


When the Sun Winds Down

by jsmulligan



Series: Claney's Journals [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 01:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 69,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15619836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jsmulligan/pseuds/jsmulligan
Summary: Titan Claney Beamard and a new fireteam are assigned a challenging mission.  While they are in the field, Ghaul strikes and the Light is lost.  Can they cope with this new reality?  What does it mean to still call yourself a Guardian?Sequel to "A Not So Simple Patrol".Leads into/runs parallel with Destiny 2.  Cross posted at fanfiction.net





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

“You've got to hold those zones!” the voice of Lord Shaxx, Crucible Handler, rang through the arena, frustration evident in his tone.

Shaxx was a legendary figure, a mountain of a man who had lead famed charges into harrowing conflict, then built the Crucible as we know it to train Guardians to be ready for anything that would come their way. He was very hands on with his creation, monitoring each match that happened. He served as announcer for some matches, others he would just chime in from time to time with comments directed toward the competitors. Normally, hearing him getting so caught up in a match was nearly as entertaining as the action itself. When it was directed at your team, the entertainment value dropped substantially.

“Oh, is THAT what we're supposed to be doing,” Hunter Celeste Etain muttered to the left of me. “And here I thought we were just supposed to dance around them and look at the pretty flags.”

As she spoke, Celeste spun out into the open, drawing her Void bow and loosing an arrow at Zone B. The arrow pierced through one defender. Where he fell, a ball of purple Light blossomed with tendrils of energy lancing outward to snare the other two. I followed her action up by tossing grenade that attached to one and exploded. The energy of the explosion transferred through the Void tethers, killing both of them.

“Maybe that's what Baruch was doing,” Titan Kana-4 chimed in over the comms, her tone teasing. “It would explain why we lost C just now.”

She sprinted into view, performing a crisp slide into the circle that marked the Control point. Celeste and I quickly moved into it as well, the three of us watching for approaching enemies while waiting to be awarded the capture.

“I was not dancing,” Titan Baruch Maor groused after a few seconds, his usual lack of humor evident in his tone. “They shot me out of the air before I could land my slam. I had them dead to rights.”

“And that is why you don't leap high in the air before you do it,” I chided. “At least until you've managed to better control you speed of descent. We've talked about that.”

He did not reply to that, but I could imagine the Awoken man grumbling under his breath. Despite being newly risen, Baruch was very self-assured. That could be a good thing, but it often turned into arrogance or just thick-headed stubbornness. If I could manage to shape it properly, it could result in a stalwart Guardian that others would follow into anything. For now, however, it just made me want to beat my head against the Wall until visions of prancing Thrall filled my skull.

“Tanton. Astrid. How are you progressing?” I asked.

“Got one,” was the Hunter's terse reply.

“We found her by A and took her out,” Astrid's young voice replied. “About to move to capture.”

“Nice work,” Celeste complemented.

“Thanks,” Astrid said, the mini-Titan's voice full of joy. “She never saw me coming. Dove into the back of her knees, then Tanton finished her off with his knife.”

“You and knees,” I muttered, not necessarily intending to be heard.

“It's fun,” she said. “No one ever expects it.”

Motion to my left. I turned and fired, three rounds leaping from my Parthian Shot pulse rifle. They found their mark, striking a Guardian who had tried sneaking up on us. Kana reacted and fired an inaccurate spray from her auto rifle. It was not the best bit of shooting, but enough rounds found their mark to finish off the enemy combatant.

“Heavy ammo inbound,” suddenly sounded through the arena.

“We'll get the close one here,” I said. “We'll do out best to wait for the rest of you to get here before opening it.”

“Not me,” Baruch stated. “I've still got a Fist of Havoc that I need to hit someone with. I'm going after the other drop.”

The heavy ammo crate trasmatted into its designated spot. I erected a Ward of Dawn around it, giving us protection while we grabbed the ammo synths and loaded our weapons. Across the bottom of my HUD, I saw several notifications scroll by in rapid succession:

BRAVO has picked up heavy ammo.

Baruch Maor killed Baris-7, Fist of Havoc

Baruch Maor killed Lee Christoph, Fist of Havoc

Baruch Maor killed David Ryn, Fist of Havoc

ALPHA has taken the lead.

Jarus Corbin killed Baruch Maor, sniper rifle

“Four of them got the heavy ammo, but I took out three,” Baruch said moments later, after being revived and transmatted back into the arena.

“Nice work,” I replied. “Let's finish them off.”

Having five members of our team with heavy weapons available, versus only one of theirs, gave us a strong advantage. We stuck together, working to take out approaching Guardians before they could pick us off or unleash their Light. This let us stretch out the slim lead Baruch had gotten us, and we were able to hold on for the victory. It wasn't the prettiest match I had ever been part of, but a win is a win. The team seemed to be coming together nicely. Well, the team and Astrid, the irrepressible “Wild Child”.

Once the match was called, Celeste made her way to the nearest control point and was started dancing near the flag. Kana cheered her on while clapping a beat. Baruch, Tanton, and Astrid gathered nearby and were watching the two of them.

“Alright everyone, let's call it a day and get out of here,” I said.

“Aww, but I'm holding the zone like Shaxx said,” Celeste jokingly pouted.

“Yeah, someone has to show Baruch how it's done,” added Kana, casting a glance at the other Titan.

“Try it out next time we're in a match and see how it works for you,” the other Awoken man grumbled. 

“Well, if you want to stick around, that's up to you,” I replied, “but Fireteam Painted Truth is officially off duty for now.”

“Fireteam?” a familiar voice questioned behind me. I turned around to see Jarus Corbin approaching. He had already removed his helmet and a broad smile was creasing his dark features. “Claney Beamard in an honest-to-goodness fireteam? And here I thought I'd seen everything.”

“Jarus,” I nodded, extending a hand which the Hunter shook. “It's been a while.”

“Yes it has,” he responded, glancing past me at the other five Guardians. “I thought you'd sworn off fireteams. In fact, I remember you making a big deal about it when Iniko tried to get you to join ours a few years back.”

“It's a long story,” I said. “But the short version is that it was something that I'd thought about for a while and the Vanguard assigned three kinderguardians to work with me and Celeste.”

“And the half-pint?” Jarus asked.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said quickly, holding a hand up. “Don't let her hear you say that, unless you feel like eating a Hammer. What's the phrase? '… though she be but little, she is fierce'? And to answer your question, she's not fully part of the team. Astrid is still only allowed to participate in the Crucible. Officially. Unofficially, I'd be willing to wager just about anything that she manages to slip out and get herself more field experience than anyone would guess.”

A warning appeared on my HUD just then. We had remained too long and needed to clear the arena before the next match. I'd seen people ignore those warnings and had no desire to be cleared from the arena by the Redjacks.

“Let's finish this conversation back at the Tower,” I said to Jarus before turning my attention to my team. “Now it's really time to go. Clear out, head back home.”

…

I changed out of my armor into something more casual while on transit to the Tower. Jarus, the team, and I all transmatted into the Courtyard about the same time, and it looked like they all had the same idea. We briefly discussed heading to the Hangar bar or the City, but decided to continue the conversation at the fireteam quarters. Astrid opted to head back to the Anusky's. We reached our destination and the Hunter paused at the door where Celeste had painted the team's name in large letters.

“Painted Truth?” he asked, glancing at me.

“Celeste picked the name,” I replied with a shrug.

“Don't be jealous your team didn't think of something as interesting,” she smirked and passed through the doorway. 

Jarus just shook his head and followed her in. I let Kana, Baruch, and Tanton enter as well before stepping in last. By the time I entered, Jarus and Celeste had each found seats in the common area. Baruch and Kana were looking for seats, and Tanton was disappearing into his bunk. I watched him go and then dropped heavily into an empty armchair.

“Jarus Corbin, this is Celeste Etain, Kana-4, and Baruch Maor. The one who disappeared into his room is Tanton Holter. Team, Jarus.” I indicated each member of the team as I said their names, and they each nodded or waved in turn. “I've worked with Jarus a few times in the past.”

“Yep. And I saved his life every single time, regardless of what he tells you,” the Hunter said. “So, I take it we have time for the longer version now?” Jarus asked.

“I suppose we do,” I said, then took a moment to gather my thoughts. “Well, it starts with a woman...”

“The best stories always do,” Jarus commented, winking at Kana who gave an impressive roll of her optics.

“... named Zillah Arvid,” I continued, ignoring both him and the sound Celeste made at the mention of Zillah's name. “An Awoken Warlock. She, Celeste, another Warlock named Scott-20, and I went on a mission that turned into something much bigger. She suggested we form a team.”

“I can't help but notice there's nobody here that matches that description,” he said. “Is she...”

“Dead? No. She left shortly after making the suggestion and hasn't been seen since. The other Warlock suffered some injuries during the events and decided he preferred life in his study to the field. He is our unofficial sixth member, acting as an information maven as well as facilitating communications and tinkering with gear.

“That left me and Celeste. We work together all the time, but two people do not a fireteam make. It seemed like the end of it. I've spent the better part of the last year stationed at the Tower helping to mentor and train newly revived Titans. Celeste stuck around for a time, but then ventured back into the wilds as you Hunters do. Still, I couldn't seem to shake the idea of putting a team together. Eventually I convinced Celeste to come back and brought the idea up to the Vanguard. They assigned Kana, Baruch, and Tanton to us to make the team, though there wasn't a sixth at the time.”

“Dad and I...” Celeste began before Jarus interrupted again.

“Wait. Dad?”

“I was there when she was resurrected,” I said quickly. “Right after helping you and Iniko, actually. Have you seen any old cartoons where the baby bird hatches and thinks that whatever the first thing it sees is its mother? Same basic concept.”

“Shush,” Celeste laughed, tossing a throw pillow at me. “Anyway. Yes, my dad. We agreed to the assignment and have been spending way too much time in the Crucible ever since to, as the Old Man put it, 'build team rapport.'”

“Well that just sounds super boring,” Jarus remarked, smirking at me.

“Oh, it is,” Kana agreed.

“Well, if you get tired of it, Team Tosia could always has room a few extra members. We'd actually let you out to shoot stuff. Just ditch the 'old man' here and come on over.”

“Poaching from my team and inciting mutiny. Remind me to not invite you back,” I said, shaking my head.

“What can I say? I like to stir the pot,” the Hunter replied.

“I'm well aware of that. Speaking of Team Tosia, how are things?”

“Knew they had a boring name,” Celeste muttered under her breath. Jarus either did not hear or just ignored it.

“Not bad, not bad. Broke in a new member not too long ago when someone left the team. We've been keeping active; taking strikes from the Vanguard, doing work for the factions, the usual. It is getting a little weird out there, though.”

“How so?”

Jarus shifted as he spoke, leaning forward, “The numbers of enemy combatants we're seeing and the way they're moving. I mean, given everything that has happened over the last few years, taking the Black Garden, killing Hive Gods, stopping the Devils and SIVA, it would stand to reason that we would see changes. But... I don't know. Something feels off about the way it's going down. I can't really put my finger on it, though.”

I nodded, thoughtful. Baruch and Kana seemed to listen intently with a definite hunger in their eyes. Maybe it was time to get them out in the field instead of just drilling in the Crucible.

“I will say one thing for sure,” Jarus continued, “there is something going on with the Cabal on Mars. Something seems to have lit a fire under them and they are starting to push harder against us and the Vex. Mobilizing in a way I haven't seen since they were right before Oryx wrecked them on Phobos. Tosia has recommended to the Vanguard that we increase our presence there.”

“You think they're planning to try to move against us?”

“Maybe. Or maybe they're a canary.”

“A what?” Baruch questioned.

“A canary,” Jarus repeated. “Back long before the Golden Age, when people would mine underground for minerals, they would sometimes have a canary with them in order to detect lethal gas.”

“Did the birds offer some sort of warning?” Kana asked.

“No,” Jarus replied, “they just died faster than people. So if the canary dropped dead, they miners would know there was a deadly substance in the air and get out.”

“Oh,” was the only response the Exo offered.

“And you think that the Cabal are reacting to something big coming that we haven't detected yet?” I asked.

“They were like an ant hill someone kicked over before Oryx came in, they're starting to get that way now. One doesn't necessarily mean the other, but...,” the Hunter shrugged.

“You may have a point.”

Just then, my Ghost Elgan materialized and floated over to me.

“Sorry to interrupt, but the Vanguard are calling for you.”

“Okay.”

“They want to speak to you in private,” he said.

I excused myself from the conversation and crossed the room to my bunk. I closed the door and sat on the far side of the small room. Elgan flittered over to hover just in front of me, the pieces of his shell rotating in opposite directions. I looked at him, and he connected me to the Vanguard. The calm, deep voice of Commander Zavala emerged.

“Claney?”

“Yes, Commander?”

“There is an urgent matter that the Speaker wishes to discuss with you. He is requesting that you come to his study alone. He says it is something of a sensitive nature and would prefer no one else know that you are coming to speak with him.”

“Any idea what so I'm not going in blind?” I asked.

“No,” the Commander replied, a slight hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. He did not seem to be thrilled to have the Speaker keeping him in the dark either.

“Fair enough. I will head there right away. Claney out.”

The connection severed and I sat still for a moment. For the life of me I could not figure out what the Speaker would need to speak to me about. No point in keeping him waiting, however. I emerged from the room and all eyes turned to me.

“I have to go deal with something. I'll be back in a few minutes.”

Celeste gave me an inquisitive look, and I shook my head then headed out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, Astrid belongs to Korfie.
> 
> This is a direct sequel to "A Not so Simple Patrol". If you have not read that story first, I would recommend it, though you will be caught up after a few chapters if you didn't.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

Being summoned specifically by the Speaker was an unusual enough occurrence to peak my curiosity. The fact that he wouldn't even tell Zavala, even more so. It would have driven me to madness trying to guess what the purpose was if I hadn't been in a position to respond immediately.

I emerged into the courtyard to a flurry of activity. Things had been busy lately, with the plans for the celebration and parade coming soon, but this was even a step above that. A number of Guardians seemed to be coming and going at a rapid pace. People were shouting to each other and generally making a racket. I wondered for a moment if there was some sort of attack I had failed to be notified of, but the mood seemed jubilant instead of panicked.. I didn't have a lot of time to wonder about it, having been summoned, but I paused briefly to question a Hunter who was dancing near the storage banks.

“You didn't hear about the reports?” he asked.

“Clearly not.”

“Word is starting to filter in from teams in the Cosmodrome. The Fallen are gone.”

“What do you mean gone?”

“I mean gone. Took off. Left. Nowhere to be seen. Well, okay, there are still a few popping up here or there, but some fireteams coming back from the field are reporting finding banners and armor being burned and left behind. The usual strongholds left empty. They're running.” He turned from me and shouted to the sky, “And good riddance, you four-armed freaks.”

I took a step back, absorbing the news. Had we finally broken the Houses? I thought of all the battles waged with the Eliksni over the decades. Six Fronts. Twilight Gap. Every little skirmish, ambush, strike, and assault since then. The resurgence of the House of Wolves followed by the emergence of the Devil Splicers and SIVA. All of that, finished? My mind reeled at the possibility.

I was tempted to stand there and absorb the atmosphere, to question others and find out what they had heard, but I had to see the Speaker. I forced my mind to calm, putting a damper on the hope swelling up until I received official word. Perhaps that had something to do with the Speaker's request? No, that wouldn't explain the secrecy or why he would ask for me specifically. I shook my head and continued on, seeking out the Speaker's study.

There was a buzz of activity where the supporters of the New Monarchy tended to gather as well. The news must be spreading quickly. The Vanguard or Consensus was going to need to make an official declaration of some sort soon or the rumors would be impossible to stop. It might be too late for that anyway. I passed by them and reached my destination.

I was surprised to find the Speaker not on the raised platform that held his books and equipment, but standing near the large opening across from it. His arms were held behind his back which was turned to me. He stood still as a statue and seemed to be staring at the Traveler. He gave no indication that he was aware of my arrival.

No one knew how old the Speaker was or what he looked like behind his mask. The only thing we knew was that he was older than any Guardian and spoke for the Traveler. What that meant, again, no one knew for sure. There was plenty of speculation that he wasn't even human. The two prevailing theories in that vein were that he was from a race the Traveler had visited from before humanity, perhaps a last survivor, or that he was a construct of the Traveler like the Ghosts were, making him something equivalent to an Exo. If he was human, some suspected he was a member of the Ares One crew made immortal by the Traveler upon first contact.

I hesitated at the doorway. Perhaps he was in some sort of communion with the Traveler now. I stood and waited until it became unbearably awkward, and then I cleared my throat softly. There was no physical reaction from the Speaker, but he spoke.

“Claney. Thank you for coming so quickly. Please, join me.”

I nodded instinctively, even though he wasn't actually looking at me. Stepping forward, I made my way to him, glancing up at the Vitalis as I crossed beneath it's swirling concentric circles. I stopped even with the Speaker's left shoulder, standing a full step behind him. He still did not turn.

“Take a long look at the Traveler, Claney,” he spoke again. “Tell me what you see.”

I turned my gaze to the large spherical shape hanging above the Last City and Elgan materialized over my shoulder, quietly joining me in observation. As always, the Traveler filled me with feelings of awe and curiosity. Awe at the size of it and what I knew of its history with humanity. Curiosity about so many things. The main three were, without fail, why it had come, why it had stayed, and if it would ever move again.

I'd heard that some people in the City had gotten so used to it hanging overhead that they just took it for granted now. It was merely another fixture in the sky, no matter that it was a large alien thing that just hovered in the air above them. I and every other Guardian owed it our very lives, so it was harder to be so dismissive of it. What the Speaker wanted me to see now, however, I wasn't certain.

“I simply see the Traveler and the City,” I said after a while. “If there is something else, I am missing it.”

“Try it with your eyes closed,” he replied. “Focus on the Traveler; try to feel it.”

Look with your eyes closed. If the Speaker had a class, it would have to be Warlock. I closed my eyes, face toward the Traveler. There was a definite sensation. I could feel my Light reacting to its source. It was subtle, a low pull, and then it wasn't. I staggered at the sudden pressure, gasping involuntarily.

“Now you feel it,” the Speaker said, what sounded like a note of pride in his voice. “That surge of Light you felt is the Traveler beginning to stir. Thanks to everything the Guardians have done lately, the resistance the Darkness provided has been lifting slowly. Other Guardians have reported changes to their Light in the field that I believe are a direct result these surges. Have you heard this?”

“No,” I responded, shaking my head. I had been far too wrapped up with goings on at the Tower lately and out of touch with everything else it seemed. I tried digest the information What I had heard about the Fallen and now this? My mind raced with possibilities. 

“Pity. You should look into it. Guardians should be aware of everything they could face once they leave these walls, whether for good or for ill.” He finally turned and looked at me then. “We are growing more powerful by the day. Nothing must be allowed to stop that. Would you agree?”

“Of course.”

“I am encouraged to hear you say that. A matter of utmost importance has presented itself, and I believe you are the Guardian best suited for the task.”

“I'm flattered.”

“Yes. Let me begin by saying that this is a very sensitive situation that was brought to my attention by Arach Jalaal of Dead Orbit.”

There was a hint of distaste in his normally unreadable voice at the name of the faction. As he spoke, the Speaker's Ghost emerged, flittering across the room. A beam of light emerged from it and the door to the study closed. He continued.

“There is a certain Warlock who had allied himself with the faction who developed an... unhealthy obsession with the Taken. He began engaging in forbidden studies. Jalaal reports that the Warlock began to refer to those under Oryx's dominion as 'blessed' or 'cleansed'. He declared an intent to take hold of such power. Dead Orbit attempted to handle the matter on their own, but the Warlock killed the agents they sent after him.”

“I am not quite certain how this involves me,” I said, sensing where this might have been going, but hoping it would prove otherwise.

“I want you to track down this Warlock. I want you to find him, and if these reports are true and he has attempted to harness the power of the Taken, to end him.” There it was.

“You want me to track down and kill another Guardian?” I asked.

“If it is necessary, yes.”

“And what makes me the 'Guardian best suited for the task'?”

“Because you have done something similar before,” he replied. “The others have faced fellow Guardians in the Crucible, yes, but few have ever actually been forced to kill another raised by the Traveler. You have done it.”

“And it cost me. I'm no assassin.”

“We all must make sacrifices,” he replied. “I am given to understand that you hold the Iron Lords in great esteem. Then you realize that they became what they were by striking down those who used the gift of the Light for cruel purposes. This is what I ask of you.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then someone else will have to do it. Someone else who may be less able to do what is needed at the most important moment. And then that Guardian would die, and it would be on your hands.”

My jaw involuntarily clenched in anger at that and my eyes narrowed. 

“I understand that what I ask of you is distasteful,” he said, his tone softening. “If this Warlock were to taint his Light with Oryx's foul blight it would present a great danger, particularly with the Traveler finally beginning to recover. It is the will of the Traveler that this be done. Would you question that?”

“No, sir,” I said finally.

“Good,” the Speaker's shoulders visibly relaxed with the word. “Go to your team. Prepare them for the challenge. Confer with Arach Jalaal to get whatever information he has on this Guardian. Speak of this to no one else.”

“Yes, sir.”

The door to the study opened again slowly. I turned and stalked from the room, not glancing back. Rather than head back to the room, I opted to visit Jalaal first so that I had all the information on hand when I went to speak to the team. If I spoke to them. This was a terrible thing to ask of three newly resurrected Guardians.

“I know what you are thinking,” Elgan said as he caught up to me.

“Doubtful.”

“Oh, please,” the little AI darted in front of my face, forcing me to stop. “We've been together for long enough that I know what you're thinking before you even think about thinking it. You can't do this alone.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I can't ask Kana, Baruch, and Tanton to start their Guardian careers by having to...” I glanced around, making sure no one was in earshot. “Kill another Guardian. It's too much.”

“You can't leave without me, and I won't let you do this on your own.”

“Wrong. I could sneak my way down into the hangar and pilot the ship manually.”

“And I could override it and keep you from going anywhere.”

I stared at the little Ghost, and he held my gaze, shell pieces clicking back and forth slowly.

“Fine,” I muttered. “But I am going to see Jalaal on my own first and find out everything he knows before I take it to the team.”

“That is an idea I actually agree with.” Elgan replied, disappearing into my armor.

I started forward again, cutting through the courtyard. The overall mood there was still jubilant, but I no longer shared in it. Heading east, I took the hallway heading toward the hangar. I descended the stairs, catching sight of a newly arrived ship being lowered down as it landed. Turning left, I continued to where Dead Orbit staked their claim.

Of the three factions, Dead Orbit held to the philosophy that I agreed with least. New Monarchy sought to strengthen the City, the appeal there should be obvious. The Future War Cult believed that was was the only reality and constantly prepared for it. Nothing inherently wrong there, but the secretive nature of them and rumored that continued to swirl around their inner circle made many keep them at arms length. Dead Orbit just wanted to run.

Maybe that isn't quite fair. They did do a number of things to help the Tower with deep space satellites and such, so they weren't all bad. Wanting to abandon Earth and the system in general? Just call it lost and take off to somewhere else? That was anathema to me.

Arach Jalaal looked at me curiously as I approached. I had had very few direct dealings with Dead Orbit or the Awoken man, but I was well known enough around the Tower that he would have recognized me. The fact that my sympathies lay with New Monarchy would not have been lost on him either. 

“Can I help you, Guardian?” he questioned as I drew close.

“I'm here to help you, actually,” I replied. “I am given to understand you are having trouble with a particular Warlock.”

“Yes, I see,” Jalaal responded, glancing around. “Perhaps we should carry on this conversation elsewhere.”

The Arach motioned for one of his followers to come take his place, handing over his data-pad. He then motioned for me to follow him. We passed through a doorway and into a darkened room. Jalaal flipped a switch, which turned on the lights, then he closed the door behind us. It appeared to be a supply room for Dead Orbit, crates lining one wall and shelves bearing armor and weapons lining the other. There was one simple table in the center of the room, ringed by several chairs. The Awoken man indicated one and I had a seat.

“So you are the Guardian the Speaker selected to handle this matter?” he asked after he sat.

“Yep,” I replied. “I drew the short straw.”

“And what did he tell you?”

“That you have a Warlock who loves the Taken, and that you attempted and failed to take care of it yourself. So now I get to. Lucky me.”

“I'm sorry, Titan,” Jalaal said, “but could you take this seriously for a moment. This is important.”

“Oh, I am dead serious,” I said, leaning forward. “I have to try to track down and murder another Guardian, something I am not looking forward to doing. Something I have done before at great personal cost. Trust me when I say I know exactly how serious this is.”

Jalaal nodded. “The Warlock's name is Darcel, strong in multiple classes. I believe he intends to try to claim the power of the Taken as his own. His last known position was on Mars.”

He slid a picture across the table to me then. It showed a human male with shaggy blonde hair. Elgan emerged again, scanning the image.

“I'll find everything I can in the records about him,” he said before dematerializing again.

“Be warned, Titan, this Warlock is very skilled. He killed three of my best people,” Jalaal stated.

“No matter how good they are, a ship to the head ends the problem every time,” I muttered to myself, standing.

“What was that?” he asked, confused.

“Nothing. We'll take care of this.” I started to leave, then turned back to him. “One question. Why Mars? Any clues?”

“All I know is that he was searching for blights.”

I nodded and left the Arach behind. Heading home, I passed through corridors while paying little attention to anything around me. My mind was too busy trying to figure out how to tell the rest of the team what was being asked of us. Despite Elgan's argument, I was still half tempted to just take off and try to handle it alone to spare them from it.

Killing another Guardian was not easy. I was still haunted by the death of Jaeger-10 and felt I always would be. If I could spare them that, I would. No matter what, I would be the one to pull the trigger and put this Darcel down.

I stepped into the fireteam quarters to find that Jarus had left while I was gone. Save me from having to throw him out, so that was fine. Kana and Baruch had retired to their bunks, but Celeste was still sitting in the common area. She looked up expectantly at me when I entered.

“Well?” her blue eyes flashed in curiosity and anticipation.

“We have a mission. Get the others out here.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 

“He wants us to do what?” Celeste asked loudly.

I didn't respond right away, knowing the question was rhetorical. No one else had yet spoken. The team was gathered in the common room, the layout of which was more or less circular. We were spread around the space with Baruch, Kana, and I seated on various pieces of furniture. Celeste was directly across from me, pacing back and forth. Tanton stood to one side and leaned against the wall. He was absentmindedly twirling a knife as he listened in an impressive bit of manual dexterity.

“I can't believe... after everything that... why would he even consider...” Celeste stopped her rant by grabbing a throw pillow and covering her face with it, letting out an inarticulate noise before dropping it back onto the couch, her chest and shoulders rising with deep, agitated breaths.

“Better?” I asked.

“No.”

“If this Warlock is corrupting the Light, then we do what we have to do,” Baruch chimed in. “I don't get why you're acting like this. We fight other Guardians all the time in the Crucible.”

Rather than respond to him, Celeste glared at me accusingly. 

“You haven't told them?”

“No,” I replied.

“Told us what?” Kana asked, turning her yellow optics toward me. 

I stared at Celeste. She put her hands on her hips and met my gaze. Kana repeated her question. 

“Told us what?”

“We may unleash our skills and powers on each other in the Crucible, but there is a difference between that and a life or death struggle. Actually ending the life of another Guardian is difficult. I know because I've done it before. It's how I ended up with this.” I rapped my knuckles against my prosthetic leg. 

Kana's black and gray face-plates shifted in consternation and she squirmed in her seat. Baruch leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. Tanton stopped his knife, eyes narrowing. Celeste turned away.

“You said you lost it during the SIVA crisis,” Baruch commented, an accusation in his tone.

“And I did. Just not to the Devils.” I paused briefly, sensing the hostility mounting in the room. Time to lay it all out. “There was a Guardian, an Exo Hunter by the name of Jaeger-10, who had allowed himself to become corrupted by SIVA and sought to help it spread to the Vex. Even before that, however, he had attacked me more than once. Threatened those I cared for. Celeste, Scott-20, and some others helped stop the SIVA, while I faced him.

“We fought, but the SIVA kept rebuilding him. Making him more lethal. Eventually, there was little of the original Guardian left. In the end, I had Elgan program my ship to crash on our position before sending him and the other Guardian that was with me away a safe distance. The explosion and subsequent flames were enough to stop the SIVA from being able to replicate. I only survived because of my Ward, which I had manipulated into a small enough shape to only cover me, giving him no potential shelter. It wasn't entirely successful.

“Even after all that, his Ghost attempted to revive him. I'm pretty sure it had been altered by the SIVA as well, though it was hard to tell. I had to crawl through the burning wreckage and crush it with my own hands.

“That's why the Speaker came to me.”

There was silence in the room as my story ended. It was eventually broken by Kana.

“Why would you keep that from us?”

“It's not really a great icebreaker,” I said. “Welcome to the team. By the by, I've killed a Guardian so you'd better be on your best behavior. It cost me a lot. Physically. Psychologically. Not exactly a moment I like to bring up in conversation.”

“Then why take this mission?” 

“I argued against it. In the end, we'll say, 'The Speaker made some really good points,' and leave it at that.” I replied.

“You should have told us the truth,” Baruch said, rising from his seat. “We deserved to know.”

“Agreed,” Tanton said, making his first contribution to the conversation.

“How are we supposed to trust you now?” The Awoken Titan continued, only glancing briefly at the Hunter. “You've been teaching us. Training us. Supposedly trying to mold us into a team that trusts each other, yet you've been lying to us the entire time. How many other things have you told us that are only true 'from a certain point of view?'”

“Baruch,” Celeste began to interrupt, but he cut her off.

“Don't. You're not any better. Clearly you knew and didn't say anything. Like father, like daughter.”

“That's enough,” I said, standing now as well. “You have an issue with me? Fine. Take it up with me, don't throw it back at her. Should I have told you? It's a strong possibility. I won't bother arguing the point right now, because you wouldn't listen anyway.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he snapped.

“It means you're angry. Probably with good reason. That anger would cloud your opinion of anything I say. If need be, we can hash it out later. Right now, however, I have a mission to prepare for, and hopefully a fireteam to prep.”

“Hopefully?” Kana questioned.

“Yes, hopefully. If you feel that you can't trust me, that you can't work with me, then you're free to walk out that door at any point tonight. I won't hold it against you in any way. In the morning, I leave for Mars with anyone who is left. I hope to see all of you then.”

With that, I turned and headed for my bunk, having to force myself not to strain my ears listening for any muttered conversation. I didn't want to be accused of spying later.

“Well, that went well,” Elgan said as he materialized over my shoulder.

“Funny, I had a completely different opinion of the situation.”

“I was hoping you hadn't really noticed and was trying to sugar coat it,” the little drone replied, floating into my field of view.

“Thanks. How's the ship?”

“Checking,” his shell twisted as he fell silent for a moment. “Fueled up and passed all inspections. It was in remarkably good condition before being stored away, so it needed very little work. The Lost Days is good to go.”

“How are we on supplies?”

“Over two dozen ammo synths of all types. Field rations fully stocked.”

“Good to know.”

“You shouldn't spend too much time questioning your decision not to tell the team,” the Ghost added. “The Consensus made the decision to restrict that knowledge to themselves and the Guardians involved. They didn't want the City to lose faith in us. The decision wasn't really up to you.”

“I know.”

“But you're still going to feel guilty about it, aren't you?'

“Yep.”

“Humans.” Elgan let out an electronic sigh.

I settled down with the information Dead Orbit had given me about Darcel Bellamy. He'd been working with them for a few decades at this point. Before that he had been a known associate of Toland the Shattered prior to that old Warlock's exile. Though he had worked with Dead Orbit for so long, he did not seem to be a true believer. His relationship with them seemed to be more of a means to an end, but it seemed Jalaal didn't know what that end was.

He'd been very interested in their deep range satellites. In fact, he had been instrumental in helping them develop and set up their networks. It seemed he had changed his focus entirely to the Dreadnaught after it arrived in system, which was true of most of us. Unlike many others, his fascination continued even after the death of Oryx.

An unnamed member of DO had discovered that Bellamy's studies had taken a disturbing turn with experiments involving the Taken. That person had ended up dead shortly after reporting what they'd seen and Bellamy had left. A hack of a computer he'd been using indicated that he had gone to Mars, and DO had been searching for him ever since. Latest intel placed his somewhere in or near the Valley of the Kings. Probably not a coincidence that it was close to the location of the Black Garden.

I fired off a quick messages to Scott-20 asking him to gather any information he could about the Warlock then spent time plotting out where to begin the search. There was a drop zone nearby that should allow us to evade many of the Cabal patrols and get a clean landing. Staying off their radar would be more difficult once we were on planet, however. After mapping out a few possibly scenarios, I flopped on my bunk and tried to rest.

Sleep was elusive that night. Between concerns about the mission and questions about who would actually still be here in the morning, my mind would not stop turning. When I did finally manage to sleep, I was plagued by dreams of fire and death. In that regard, the small amount of sleep might have been a blessing.

When morning arrived, I dragged myself out of bed. Everything inside me argued to stay in bed, partially from being tired and partially as an attempt to escape the duty that had fallen to me. I heard the sound of Elgan flitting about the room and saw that my armor was sitting out and waiting for me. 

“Elgan, make sure we have some coffee brewing,” I groaned.

“I believe someone else has taken care of that.”

Breathing deeply, I noticed the familiar aroma. Celeste never touched the stuff, so that meant at least one of the new kids had stuck around. If nothing else, we'd have enough for a strike team. I donned my under-suit, then strapped on my leg, arm, and chest armor. I picked up my helmet and looked at my reflection in the visor. The lack of sleep was clear in my green eyes.

“Go ahead and store this for now, Elgan.”

“Of course,” the Ghost replied, and it transmatted out of my hands and I rubbed my face with a gloved hand.

I grabbed my modified Parthian Shot and slung it over my back. The pulse rifle clicked in place, waiting for when I would have need of it. It had quickly grown into my go-to weapon and its weight brought comfort.

That thought brought a brief smile to my face. If newly revived me had been told that I would ever feel that way, he wouldn't have believed it. Only sheer luck had kept me from injuring myself the first time I'd fired in desperation at an enemy. Most Guardians seem to be born with some innate combat ability, either instinct remaining from a previous life as a warrior or installed from their Ghost. I was one of the exceptions. It had taken a lot of work and training to become anything other than a liability in the field. 

The leader of my first fireteam, an old Titan named Donvan, had shaped me into something useful. I wondered if I had half his skill in that regard. I shook away the thought and stepped out to face whatever awaited me. I was not expecting what I found.

Four Guardians were in the common room, geared up and waiting. Celeste and Tanton were standing near each other, the latter showing the former the knife trick he'd been performing the night before. Kana stood to one side in conversation with her Ghost. Baruch was sipping something from a cup. When he saw me he rose and moved away. I assumed that meant he had stuck it out by wasn't entirely happy about the idea, until he returned with a second cup in hand and offered it to me. He'd been the one to make the coffee, it seemed.

“Thanks,” I said, accepting the cup. The liquid inside wasn't black. He'd taken the time to add something to it.

“Sure.”

“Not just for the cup.”

He nodded and then stepped away. I took a sip and scanned my eyes over the room again. The others had turned from their different activities to look in my direction. I felt like a strange specimen on display in a Warlock laboratory. I cleared my throat.

“I'm grateful to see you all here this morning. I was expecting some sort of attrition. Maybe even everyone else leaving besides Celeste.”

“Like I'd stay on that sinking ship,” the Hunter quipped. Kana laughed quietly.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime, Old Man.”

“Anyway,” I continued, “I am glad you all stayed. Though, at the same time, I wish you didn't have to take on the task that lies before us. I'd rather that fall on my head alone.”

“It's his martyr complex,” Elgan chimed in.

“I don't have a martyr complex.”

“Yes you do,” he said. “Always feeling like you have to take on the weight of the world for everyone else. That you should suffer to keep others from doing it. It's what drives you.”

“Agreed,” Celeste added.

“And why you were going to take the blame for this when it was the Consensus that kept you from telling them.”

“Elgan,” I warned.

“It's okay,” Kana added. “He told us last night. It's part of why we all stayed.”

I glanced at the Ghost. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the particular twist of his shell carried an air of smugness.

“Remind me to drown you in the first puddle of Cabal drool we find on Mars,” I muttered.

“We are all prepared and ready,” Baruch informed me. “All we need is for you to give the word.”

I nodded, glancing to each member of the team.

“We've been given a difficult task,” I said. “Not only are we going after a fellow Guardian, on Mars we will have to be mindful of the Cabal, the Taken, the Vex, and possibly the occasional holdout from the Fallen House of Wolves. For three of you, this will be your first time in the field, and it will be a strenuous first test. However, I have every faith in you. We will see this mission through, we will end this threat to the Light. This is where Painted Truth makes its mark, and no one will hide what you accomplish.”

I'm sure Zavala, Saladin, or Donvan could have done better, but I thought it was a half-way decent first stab at an inspirational speech.

“Let's go hunt us a Warlock,” Tanton stated.

As a team we made our way to the plaza. Our Ghosts brought out our ships and we each transmatted aboard our respective vessels. Once a course was plotted in, we turned slowly away from the Tower and headed into orbit.

...

I spent the trip reading and re-reading all the material from Dead Orbit about the Warlock. I still felt the approach I'd plotted should work. Once on the ground, Tanton and Celeste would take the lead in trying to actually track him down. If Orbit's assassins could find his hiding place, I had complete confidence in my two Hunters being able to do the same. I still hadn't managed to figure out how to make sure the others weren't left the responsibility of finishing him off, however.

Elgan notified me that we had reached Mars. Our ships dropped down from relative speeds and we approached the planet. Elgan transmitted an updated approach Vector to the other Ghosts as we broke atmosphere. Everything was going well until alarms started sounding.

“We're taking fire! Cabal anti-air emplacements!” Elgan called out.

That didn't make sense. This area was supposed to be clear. Once Aasim-7 had broached the exclusion zone prior to attacking the Black Garden, we'd had little issue getting Guardians on and off planet. When had these guns been put in? No time to figure that out now.

We took evasive action, working to avoid the unexpected fire from the surface. Baruch and I made it through, but Tanton's ship took a direct hit and went down, trailing smoke.

“I'm going down,” he said over the comms. “Ghost, prepare for revive.”

“Elgan, transmat to the surface and then get the ship clear of fire,” I told my Ghost who trilled an electronic affirmative. “Everyone else, get to the ground, now. We'll rendezvous on Tanton's location.”

Before anyone had a chance to reply, I felt the familiar sensation of the transmat take me. The next thing I knew, I was standing on the surface of the Red Planet.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

“Status report,” I called out as the transmat released me. My eyes quickly scanned the nearby surroundings, checking for danger and looking to see if I could spot any of the others. Nothing was moving near me.

“Made it.” Kana called out after a moment, her mechanical voice even.

“Good to go.” Celeste checked in, sounding slightly breathless.

“Boots on the ground.” Baruch added, an air of annoyance in his voice.

No answer from Tanton. Not that I had really expected one. Once his ship hit the ground it would have taken his Ghost a little time to revive him, if it was even safe to do so. Depending on where he went down, that might not be the case.

“We need to regroup. We'll rendezvous on Tanton. Have your Ghosts do a quick scan from your position and then share data so we can triangulate where it looks like he went down,” I said to the others. I held out my hand and said to Elgan, “Find him.”

“On it,” the Ghost responded as he materialized above my palm.

His shell split, revealing a glowing blue orb. The floating pieces of shell orbited as the light inside pulsed a few times, what looked like lightning sparking between the orb and its satellites. After a few seconds, he collapsed back in on himself. The pieces of shell whirred about and locked into place.

“Based on information from the others, I think we can pinpoint his crash sight,” Elgan said.

“Good. Put it up on my HUD,” I told him. To the others, “Probably location should be coming up now. Let's get there before any Cabal do.”

My sparrow appeared next to me and Elgan phased back into my armor. I mounted the hovering vehicle and fired it up. It leaped across the Martian sand, zipping forward at high speed. I guided it around large rocks, passing over smaller features of the landscape. A number ticked under the mark on my HUD, letting me know I was getting closer to the sight of the crash. The smoke rising from over the horizon did a good job of that as well.

“No sign of Cabal near the ship,” Celeste called out, beating everyone else to the crash site.

“Any signal from Tanton?” I asked.

“Nope. No sign of movement either.”

Why was his Ghost was taking so long? I briefly wondered if the crash had been so severe that it had killed them both permanently, but pushed that thought aside. I was not going to entertain the idea of losing a member of my team at the very beginning of our first actual mission. It was unacceptable.

I arrived at the crash moments before Baruch and Kana reached the location. Celeste was positioned with her back to the crash, sniper rifle at the ready in case we had company. I stepped off my sparrow and approached the wreckage of the ship. Behind me, the sparrow disappeared as Elgan stored it away. I saw the other sparrows do the same.

“Tanton?”

There was no response. The longer he stayed silent, the harder it was to ignore the little voice in the back of my head whispering that I'd already managed to lose a Guardian.

“Tanton?” I called again, stepping closer to the ship.

“I'm here,” the Hunter replied finally.

There was a shifting among the wreckage, following by the sound of metal banging against metal. Eventually, a piece shifted and fell away. The Hunter stepped out into the sunlight and stretched his arms and shoulders.

“Took you long enough,” Baruch said.

“Blame Huet,” the Hunter grumbled.

“A little caution is a good thing,” Tanton's Ghost replied, appearing over his shoulder. “I would not want to revive him only to be shot at by unfriendlies.”

Baruch harrumphed. Tanton shook his head and checked his weapons. Celeste stopped her watch and walked over to where we stood. Nothing was closing in, chances were good now that we'd be gone before any Cabal or Vex turned up to investigate the crash.

“Now what?” Kana asked. “Where do we go from here?”

The others all turned to look at me. The rough start to the mission needed to be pushed aside for now. Time to actually lead them on something other than a training exercise.

“We continue the mission,” I said. It was clear from their body language that the decision was not a popular one.

“What about the guns that just shot us down? Shouldn't we do something about them?” the Exo Titan asked, pointing her hand in the general direction of the anti-aircraft emplacement.

“Not like they'll just pack up and go away now that they shot down one ship,” Baruch commented.

“Once we do what we came for, we can come back for them. For now, we'll just inform the Vanguard and send out an alert so other teams will know to watch for them.”

“Not sure I like the idea of ignoring someone shooting at me,” Tanton muttered.

“Trust me, I understand,” I replied, “but the mission has to come first.”

“Where are we supposed to look for this guy?” Baruch asked after a few seconds of silence from the group.

“Celeste?”

I turned toward the Hunter, and the others followed suite. She stepped forward and activated her holographic map, which flared to life in a brilliant green display. It showed all the nearby area with several locations marked with pins labeled “DO”.

“The last report from the final Dead Orbit assassin came from here, near the entrance to the Black Garden,” she pointed to one of the markers. “The others were from areas not far from there. Seems like this is probably the best place to begin.”

The three pins formed the points of a scalene triangle that covered much of the ground near the infamous location. If the Warlock had become obsessed with the Taken and the Darkness, I suppose it makes sense that he was also interested in whatever the “Dark Heart” of that place had been. 

“Then let's go,” I replied.

Each of our sparrows were transmatted back in and we set off toward the entrance to the Black Garden. A Guardian I knew, Aasim-7, had been the first of us to locate it a few years back, though it seemed our enemies and the Awoken of the Reef were all well aware of its location prior to that. Something that we had lost in the Collapse and had never bothered to look into while fending for our lives, I suppose. Though, there was such a large number of Guardians who had gotten caught up in legends and tales of other things, the Vault of Glass for example, that I'm surprised there hadn't been someone chasing after it. Toland or Osiris, perhaps.

Or maybe Osiris had known and had taken that secret with him when he'd been banished from the Tower. When it came to the Vex, he seemed to have had many of the answers before anyone else. The only way to know would be to ask him, and striking up a conversation with the old Warlock wasn't exactly an easy thing to do.

Toland and Osiris. No wonder some people had trouble trusting Warlocks. Of course, I had my own issues with the class...

I shook my head and blinked rapidly a few times, trying to refocus. Now was not the time to let my thoughts go chasing down rabbit holes. To think about... 

Focus. The Garden. Aasim had ventured in, seemingly in some other time or place, and killed its “Heart” which locked it into a location on Mars. A few Guardians had ventured into it since, as the Vex kept messing with things in there. Could the Taken have some interest in it as well? It did seem likely, and this Darcel could have followed them there. We all know Crota and Oryx had their “throne rooms” that they had to be killed in for us to actually be rid of them. Perhaps this dimension that the “Heart” had been in had been a Vex version of that concept? 

My thoughts on the matter were interrupted by the voice of my daughter.

“Picking up numerous contacts ahead,” Celeste called out. “Looks like we're about to run right into some action between the Vex and Cabal.”

“Of course we are,” I said. “Any way around?”

“Doesn't look it. Geography hems us in a bit here.”

“So we go through them?” Baruch asked.

“Looks like it.”

“Good,” he growled.

Celeste and Tanton had stopped their sparrows. Baruch, Kana, and I pulled up behind them, unable to see the enemies yet. We proceeded slowly around a curve in the rock, barely revving the engines. We found a large mass of Cabal faced off with a gaggle of Vex. Shots were launching back and forth, Cabal bodies and Vex chassis parts strewn between the two fronts. None of them seemed to have taken notice of us yet.

“How do you want to do this?” Celeste asked, glancing back at me.

I studied the enemy lines for a moment. The Cabal seemed to be winning this encounter as they outnumbered the Vex at least two to one. If we were to hit the Vex first, that left a lot of firepower to bear on us as well. If we hit the Cabal, they would be able to turn much of that might to us, but would have to deal with the Vex from the other side. Of course, there was no guarantee the Vex wouldn't just turn their weapons on us as soon as we showed up. 

“We hit the Cabal,” I said. “Ride in toward the back of the group on our sparrows so that we can strike fast, then let into them. Keep most of them between us and the Vex and they will have to divide their attention.”

The others nodded and readied themselves. I gave a quick chop forward with my hand and they gunned their sparrows, rocketing toward the Cabal. The first Psion that spotted us squealed out a surprised alarm moments before Baruch plowed right through it, its body bouncing off the point of the machine and tumbling through the air.

We crashed into the body of the force then, leaping from the moving sparrows as they collided with alien soldiers, helping create chaos. Several of the Cabal seemed stuck between continuing the assault against the Vex or turning to face the new arrivals. I opened fire, three round bursts from the Parthian Shot ripping into a Phalanx before it had time to turn. The Cabal fell, dropping its shield.

Given that none of us had yet had cause to call on our Light, we were charged up and ready for the encounter. As soon as she leaped, Celeste called on her Dusk Bow and fired into the crowd. A couple Cabal fell instantly, while others found themselves trapped in ensnaring Void tendrils.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flare of Solar energy as Tanton summoned his Golden gun. Three quick shots brought down three Cabal. As they fell, their corpses then exploded in an eruption of Light, wounding their compatriots and helping spread confusion in the ranks. 

Somewhere to the other side I heard the familiar sound of a Fist of Havoc being unleashed and glanced over to see Kana standing in a storm of Arc energy. The aftershocks sparked lightning around her, vaporizing two other Cabal who had raced in too quickly to try retaliating.

All Cabal weaponry fired mini-rockets. Some, however, were not so mini. I barely noticed a number of larger projectiles heading my way in time to hastily erect a Ward of Dawn. I felt the rockets slam against the defensive shield, concentrating to hold it in place.

“Someone take out that Colossus,” I shouted.

“Mine,” came Tanton's response.

I saw the Hunter bob and weave his way past Centurions and Psions, darting his way toward the larger Cabal and drawing his sword. As they attempted to turn to attack the fast moving figure that dashed between them, several of the Cabal suddenly dropped to the ground, headless. A quick glance in the other direction revealed Baruch reloading his scout rifle.

We whittled down the Cabal numbers enough that the Vex suddenly became a problem. Energy blasts splattered against my Ward as the robotic aliens approached. I stepped out of my bubble of Void Light and opened fire at a Goblin, rounds shattering the vial of radiolarin fluid that rested in the center of its torso. The mechanical chassis shattered and fell.

I was struck then by a blast from a Minotaur. I staggered under the blow, momentarily disoriented. The defensive shielding of my armor dropped dangerously low and an annoying alarm sounded.

“Taking another hit like that wouldn't be a good idea,” Elgan pointed out.

“Thanks for the advice,” I snapped back.

I twisted to return fire, but saw the large Vex fall under a hail of auto rile bullets. Kana followed that up by tossing a lighting grenade that stuck to a rock face, lancing out Arc energy into a Goblin and Hobgoblin that had been behind the Minotaur. The red markers on my HUD representing enemy combatants had nearly disappeared. I didn't have much of a chance to enjoy that fact, however.

“Cabal reinforcements inbound,” Elgan said.

“Jarus wasn't kidding about the Cabal,” Celeste commented. “They are moving in full force here.”

Two Harvesters flew in, disgorging their passengers before rocketing to safety. The new arrivals instantly opened fire, joining the battle. We were forced to back up and regroup.

“It doesn't make sense,” I said. “The Cabal on Mars had been locked in a stalemate for years with the Vex. Between us and the Taken getting caught up in that, the Cabal have seen a large chunk of their leadership cut off. Almost as much as the Fallen. What could possibly be driving them to surge forward now?”

“Sounds like there's a new space turtle we need to track down and kill,” Baruch said. “Some uppity soldier trying to make a name for himself, maybe?”

“But what would have provided the impetus?” Kana asked. “The Cabal here had been completely demoralized.”

“We could try catching one and questioning it,” Celeste replied. “If any of us spoke Cabal, that is.”

“Ugh,” Kana responded. “That would mean actually getting close enough to talk to one of them without its helmet. You've seen how ugly these guys are, right?”

“Spend less time worrying about looking at them and more shooting at them, please,” Baruch chided.

“Who says I can't do both?” Kana replied, her auto rifle spitting fire and gunning down two centurions.

Baruch lowered his weapon, eying the incoming Cabal. Thanks to their recent arrival and our gunfire, they had not had time to spread out much or really deploy themselves yet. The Awoken Titan sprinted forward, hopped onto a rock and then jumped off, using Lift to propel himself into the air.

“Don't...” I started to call out, then stopped.

The Cabal tracked his upward movement, attempting to shoot him out of the sky. It seemed like they might track it correctly until he suddenly paused, hovering for the briefest of moments. He suddenly rocketed forward, body sheathed in Arc Light, and slammed into the gathered enemy troops, wiping them out. He'd managed to control his descent finally, a technique referred to as “Death from Above”.

“Nice work,” I admitted.

“Thanks,” Baruch replied. “I almost had it during that Control match. Just needed a little more focus.”

No Cabal or Vex were left standing, and we detected no more Harvesters inbound.

“Looks like that's it for the Cabal at the moment. Let's get going before any more decide to show up.”

We set off again toward our destination. Hopefully that would be the last obstacle before we arrived. We didn't need to expend anymore energy or ammo than needed before the encounter.

“Transmission from the Tower,” Elgan announced. “It's Scott-20”

“Put him through,” I said.

“C....y? I fou....omething...” Scott's voice was scrambled and distorted through the static.

“Can you clean that up at all?” I asked.

“I'm trying,” Elgan stated, an annoyed tone filtering through his electronic voice. “Something is messing with the signal.”

“...lo? Can you.... e?”

“Scott? You're breaking up, I can't make out anything you're saying.”

“C....”

“The signal is gone,” Elgan said.

“Try to get him back,” I told the Ghost.

“I'll see what I can do.”

“Do you think the Cabal are interfering with our communications?” I asked.

“It is possible,” Elgan replied. “I've never had any issues with them trying that in the past, but they've been full of surprises today.”

I was curious to find out what the Warlock had uncovered. Any additional information would have been helpful before potentially going up against Darcel. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to try to clear up the communications.

“We're getting close to the coordinates DO gave us,” Celeste called out.

“Go ahead and dismount,” I told the team. “We'll go in on foot from here. Tanton and Celeste take point. Kana in back and keep an eye on our six.”

Once again, we stopped and our Ghosts stored away our sparrows. Nothing about the immediate surroundings stood out to me right away, but that didn't mean anything. Elgan dutifully marked the exact location of my HUD and we began striding in that direction. We had not gone far when Celeste caught sight of something.

“There's a cave over there,” she pointed out.

“Might be where he was holed up,” Baruch suggested.

“Good possibility, since I'm not seeing anything else nearby,” I said. “Let's go in slow.”

We approached the cave from the side, stepping in slowly. Often our Ghosts would provide light when entering darkened spaces like this, but we opted to keep them dark for now. No need to alert anyone who might be waiting of our presence before we needed to. A few meters past the opening, the cave split into a few different chambers. Reluctantly, we split up to search faster.

“Clear,” Tanton stated.

“I'm not finding anything,” Baruch said.

“Our guy was here though,” Celeste added. “We've got books and gear.”

“Anything look recent?” I asked.

“Hard to say,” she replied. “Nothing looks dusty, so it probably hasn't been left alone too long, though this is Mars and not Earth, so it may be hard to judge.”

“Remember when I said I hadn't found anything?” Baruch's voice cut in. “Forget I said that. We've got what looks like some sort of portal thing and a large blight embedded in the wall.”

“Portal thing?” Kana questioned.

“Feel free to come up with a better description yourself,” the Awoken man snapped.

“I'll come check it out,” I said. “The rest of you keep an eye out for anything else unusual.

I retraced my steps and then followed Baruch's signal into a different space in the cavern. Rounding a bend, I heard the now-familiar sound of a Taken rupture. I wondered if it would ever stop creeping me out.

The “portal thing” stood directly in the center of the chamber, with the blight directly behind it. The room itself was not very large, with only two meters or so separating the edge of the portal from the walls. I stepped closer to it, leaning in close.

“I wouldn't touch if I were you,” Baruch said.

“Wasn't planning on it,” I replied. “I was just listening.”

“For what?” he asked.

“I don't really know,” I said with a shrug. “Some Guardians have reported hearing things through Taken ruptures. Chants. Voices. Or feeling like something was looking at them from the other side. Just thought I'd take a listen.”

“You could always stick your head through and see if anything is there,” Elgan offered.

“I'll pass,” I said, stepping back from the warped space. “Let's double check the rest of the rooms, see if there is anything in any of the materials that might give us a clue as to where he might have gone from here.”

Baruch and I turned to exit the chamber when there was a strange sound behind us. We spun around to see a form that must be Darcel Bellamy emerge from the portal and freeze.

“Guardians?” The Warlock questioned, clearly surprised to see us.

That surprise didn't buy us much time. He drew his hand back suddenly, the unmistakable move of a Warlock readying a Nova Bomb. What he unleashed didn't look like any Void blast I'd ever seen. It did fly straight at us like one, however.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 

The Warlock launched the strange Nova bomb directly at me and Baruch. We each dove in opposite direction, but there wasn't enough space to get far. The surge of energy struck the ground and erupted, flinging us hard against opposing cavern walls. The wind was knocked out of my lungs and I saw black spots dancing around my vision. Before I had time to recover, Darcel dashed forward and then disappeared with the telltale traces of a Blink streaking the air.

“He's... the Warlock... he's here,” I managed to gasp out, scrambling to my feet. “He's... Blinking through the caves! Watch out!”

I glanced over to Baruch and saw him picking himself up off the ground, stumbling and holding a hand to his helmet. Probably concussed.

“You good?” I asked him.

“I'm alive,” he growled, “anything else can wait.”

I nodded, then set off after the Warlock. I brought my weapon bear, prepared in case he had chosen to lie in wait around any of the twists and turns between us and the rest of the team. We saw no sign of him between the room holding the portal and the main passageway.

“Anyone have eyes on?” I called.

“No,” Tanton responded in his usual economic manner.

“I haven't seen anything,” Kana said. “He didn't try to leave through the main entrance.”

“Nothing yet,” Celeste answered.

“He's got to be here. Keep an eye out. Kana, press in, I don't think he's going to head for that exit. I am going to move inward. Baruch, wait here until Kana reaches this point, then come in as well. We should catch him between us somewhere.”

I focused on my HUD, watching the green dots that represented my team either settle in or begin moving. There was no sign of Darcel. Either the caves were interfering with Elgan's ability to pinpoint his location, or he knew a way to avoid the Ghosts passive scans. Whatever the case may be, it was clear that we would actually have to set eyes on him to figure out where he was.

“I think I hear something,” Celeste said quietly. Then, “He's here! The room where we found the books!”

I heard the loud report of a hand-cannon echo down the stone corridor. I picked up the pace, sprinting toward the marker that indicated my daughter, which was moving erratically on my screen now. The marker indicating Tanton had left its position and was moving rapidly in that direction as well. I pushed myself hard, hoping to get there in time.

“Thrall spit!” Celeste cursed.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, struggling to keep the tone professional.

“No, but he grabbed a book and disappeared again.”

“Tanton, did you see him in the hall?”

“No,” the Hunter replied.

If the Warlock had Blinked, he would have had to reappear somewhere. The maneuver was only a short-range teleportation, no matter how skilled the Warlock, so he couldn't have gone far. There must be something that we missed. I was about to say something when it hit me. He was a Guardian, he would have the same ability to see my team that I did. He'd been able to see Tanton make his move to assist Celeste, thus leaving the room next door open and available. He'd gone to the empty cavern.

“Tanton, turn around. He's going to be behind you!”

I rounded the bend in time to see the Warlock appear in the corridor. Beyond him, I could see Tanton whirling around, drawing a throwing knife in the same motion. Before either of us could respond, Darcel disappeared again. I spun quickly, knowing he would appear behind me at some point. When he did, I managed to get one three-round burst off before he vanished, but none of the rounds found their mark.

“Baruch, he'd coming your way!”

I have to admit that I was slightly impressed by the Warlock at this point. Most Warlocks and Hunters had to take a moment to gather themselves after each Blink. I'd never seen one use the maneuver this many times, this rapidly. It had to be taking quite the toll on him. Whatever was in that book he'd grabbed must have been very important for him to push this hard to recover it.

“I see him,” Baruch announced. 

The sounds of a struggle filtered over the comms after that. The Awoken man must have managed to get a hand on the Warlock before he could disappear again, or Darcel had finally run out of energy. Either way, we had a chance to stop him now. I turned a corner and spotted the two of them grappling with each other. Kana appeared then from the other direction. Baruch was bigger and stronger than the Warlock and was clearly gaining the advantage on his adversary. 

It seemed like he might manage to wrestle him to the ground when the Warlock's hand thrust forward, unleashing a pulse that caused Baruch to fly backward several steps. Darcel scrambled to his feet and dashed toward the portal room. Baruch regained his balance and set off after him. I continued to push myself, closing the gap. I saw Darcel pass through the portal and vanish. Baruch was still running after him.

“Wait!” I shouted, but the warning was too late.

Baruch hit the portal and was thrown bodily backward with a flash, slamming into the cavern wall for a second time today. He crumpled to the floor in a heap. The portal itself seemed to shimmer and fluctuate, rippling like water.

“What in the Traveler's name was that?” he groaned, rolling to his back.

“To pass through portals like that, it has to think you are an Ascendant Hive.”

“Then why did Elgan tell you to stick your head through it earlier?”

“Because he's a jerk,” I quipped, which brought an annoyed burst of static from the Ghost. “Not exactly disproving the point there, buddy.”

“You besmirched my reputation. I was just defending my honor,” Elgan huffed in my ear.

“So what do we do now?” Kana asked.

I strode over to where Baruch lay and offered a hand. He grabbed it and I hauled him up to his feet. The other three had gathered at the opening to the portal room and were looking in. I glanced from them to the portal, and then back again.

“This has to lead somewhere,” I said, thumb pointing over my shoulder toward the Taken rupture. “Could be off world, or it could connect to another location here on Mars. We need to check some of his other known locations. If those don't pan out, then... Well, then we will just have to figure something else out. Celeste?”

Celeste activated her map again, displaying the three locations given us by Dead Orbit. I stared at the image, hoping to spark some intuition or ingenuity, but nothing came to me. With no better ideas, I opted to go for the most obvious choice.

“We'll head north and hit the closest point first. We'll do a quick check there and if we don't find him, then we push on to the other point.”

I didn't mention the fact that if we ended up at the wrong place first, he would probably be long gone by the time we made it to the other location. I doubted I needed to, however. It wouldn't have taken much to figure that fact out.

We left the cave and set off for the next location, sparrows zipping over Martian sand dunes. There was little of interest between the two points, which was a blessing. No visible Golden Age ruins meant less for the Cabal and Vex to fight for. It also meant less to worry about running into now that the day was growing darker. Since we had a moment, I decided to try the communications again.

“Elgan, reach out to Scott-20, see if we can figure out what he was trying to tell us earlier.”

“On it,” the Ghost responded, then came back a moment later sounding frustrated. “Nothing. I can't get anything on any long-range communications. We're not experiencing any local interference, but I'm getting nothing from off world.”

“Could something be happening to the communication satellites?”

“Uncertain, though I suppose it is possible,” he conceded.

“You were supposed to say, 'No,' to that.”

“In the future, you'll have to tell me ahead of time if I'm supposed to give you one specific answer,” he said.

“Noted.”

We made it to the second site unobstructed and found what appeared to be another cave and approached cautiously. We had no way to know if this was the right place, or if he had come here from the last location, but there was no way for Darcel to know which of his warrens we had visited first either. If he had gone back to one of the two, I suspected he would have set up some sort of defensive measures.

There was nothing to prevent our entry. This hideaway turned out to be the remains of a man-made structure that had been buried over the years. Rather than hollowed out stone, we were met with tile, sheet-rock, and broken light fixtures. We also found indications that the Warlock had been there, but he was not currently. I'd guessed wrong. Now we risked missing him and had given him plenty of time to prepare for our arrival if he wanted to challenge us.

The trek to the final DO way-point would not be as simple as this last jaunt. There was a Cabal firebase between here and there, which would cause us to detour slightly to avoid detection. How much of a detour that would be would depend on the Cabal. If they were as hyper-active as the others we had seen thus far, it could be a considerable problem.

We grabbed a few of the books the Warlock had left scattered around without bothering to look at them. There was no time right now, but I was certain someone would find the information interesting. Ghosts transmatted the books somewhere safe, and then we dashed out the door. We pushed our sparrows to their limit, trying to get there as quickly as we could, only slowing when we drew near to the Cabal firebase.

The base was showing signs of large-scale activity and mobilization. Luckily for us, most of their activity seemed directed in the opposite direction of us. In the distance, we could hear the sounds of weapons fire. Presumably they were engaged in another confrontation with the Vex. I think that may be the first time I was ever grateful for the presence of the mechanical aliens, as it allowed us to pass nearly undetected. Gunning the engines again, we rocketed past the Cabal. A Psion or two did catch sight of us and fire off a few shots, but we were gone before they were able to sound any sort of alarm.

The third location was an old Clovis Bray facility. The building had done a decent job of holding up to the many years since the Collapse, but it time had taken its toll. A mound of sand had been blown up against one side, eventually becoming so heavy that it had collapsed a portion of the wall. There were other signs of deterioration and dilapidation as well, with small holes visible in places, and there being a gaping entrance where it looked like a large security door once stood.

“I'm detecting strong Taken energy,” Elgan told me before adding an unnecessary, “be careful.”

“I'm always careful,” I said.

“You mispronounced 'never,'” the Ghost scoffed.

That brought a smile to my face despite the situation. I did have a tendency to charge in head first. Most Defenders tended to play things more cautiously, with a more, well, defensive mind-set than I did, but I had always been more comfortable taking an aggressive position when it came to combat situations. Someone had once described it as a “bull in a China shop” style, which I liked. I might have used a wolf in my emblem, but there were times that called for something bigger and more destructive.

Now felt like time to play the bull.

“I say we go in hard,” I told the others. “Watch for bombs, destroy any blights immediately, but crash in and try to catch him before he disappears again.”

“Are you sure he's here?” Kana asked.

“I'm sure,” I answered, not entirely certain as to why I was so convinced. “I'm sure your Ghost told you about the Taken energy as well. I guarantee he's holed up in there with back-up waiting for us. Time to crash their party.”

“Bunch of twitchy weirdos gathered around a traitorous Guardian hoping to shoot and kill us? Not sure I'd call that a party,” Celeste muttered.

“It will be once we bring the Light show,” Baruch responded, which caused Celeste and Kana to both whip their heads toward him.

“Did... did you just try to make snappy banter?” Celeste asked incredulously.

“I don't know what to feel right now,” Kana added, reaching over and gripping Celeste's arm as if trying to steady herself. “That was the most amazingly unexpected thing ever.”

“I liked it,” I told him. “Solid effort.”

Baruch just made an unintelligible noise and shook his head, turning toward the building.

“Weapons ready,” I said. “Let's go.”

We entered through the missing door, quickly sweeping the room. There was no way to tell what the original function of the room had been, but there were three doors leading out of it. I had Celeste and Baruch check one, Kana and Tanton check the second, and I went to the third. My door only led to what appeared to have been an office at one point.

“Nothing here, looks like an old supply closet or something,” Celeste said. 

That left Kana and Tanton's door, which opened to some sort of hallway pushing further into the building. It would be an easy and obvious spot to try to pin us down. It was also the only way to move forward. Nothing to do but step in the bear trap and hope to survive the teeth.

The Taken wasted little time in beginning their assault which seemingly confirmed one fear, Darcel was actually allied with them in some way now and not just studying them. Once we were all well into the hallway, the familiar sound of the twisted creatures arriving split the air. Reality tore open, Taken ruptures opening at both ends of the corridor and dislodging combatants. My team was ready and responded immediately, Taken spiraling back into nothingness as weapon rounds struck the strange glowing circle that Taking seemed to leave on their head. For each that fell, however, another arrived to take its place.

The hallway was narrow enough that it was nearly impossible to miss us. Alarms sounded in my helmet as my shields dropped dangerously low again. I guessed the same was happening to the others as well. We needed to get out of here before they managed to kill one or more of us.

“Push forward,” I shouted, charging and lobbing a suppressor grenade toward the enemies blocking our way.

The grenade detonated, killing the Taken in closest proximity while stunning those it didn't take out immediately. Suppressors didn't pack powerful explosions and weren't nearly as disorienting as an Arc flash-bang, however a suppressor did have the bonus of disrupting the ability to use certain powers. It confused and distract them enough for us to charge in, pushing through weakened enemies, finishing several off with fists and knives.

Behind a tangle of Taken Thrall and Goblins, the blacked-out form of a Minotaur lurked. The larger Vex construct moved toward us, then suddenly toppled backward and exploded. Turning my head back, I saw Tanton had ignited his Golden Gun, Solar Light blazing over his hand-cannon. He snapped back the other direction, firing two shots in quick succession. The Taken had been trying to advance from behind, but his shots thwarted the effort. Two of the twisted enemies died instantly, the explosion of Solar energy that erupted from their bodies in the aftermath wiped out several others nearby.

That gave us the break we needed to sprint down the rest of the hallway. It opened to another large room. There was one door on the same side of the room that we emerged from, probably leading to some sort of conference room that was parallel to the hallway. There were doors on the back and right-hand side walls, and a stairwell leading upward.

“Celeste and Baruch, check the far door. Tanton and Kana, the other. I'll take the stairs,” I said, and the team split to examine the exits.

I quickly made my way to the stairs to see what I could find. Glancing upward, I could see that the stairs themselves had fallen to ruin starting at the next floor. No way to tell what the condition was further up. If we went that way, we would have to jump rather than walk up the stairs. Impossible to tell what might be happening anywhere else in the room above.

“There is another room here, and it looks like there might be another door on the far side of it. Doesn't look like anything's been moved in a good while, though,” Kana said from her door.

“This is just a storage closet,” Celeste said. “Why do I keep getting the storage closets?”

“Next time we'll make sure you get the room full of monsters,” I said. “Looks like we go up.”

We made it up to the final floor before running into any more trouble. Shadow Thrall leapt out of the darkened room, barely distinguishably from the regular, non-murderous shadows. Behind them, the Wizard that spawned them hovered, shrieking as she unleashed Darkness blasts, pummeling our position as we tried to fend off the attack of her summoned minions. I was caught by a blast and staggered backward, tumbling back down to the floor below. It would have been a longer fall if I hadn't managed to grab a piece of the broken stair rail.

I managed to get back up in time to see a lightning grenade erupt from the far wall, lancing Arc energy back through the Wizard who howled in pain. I wasn't sure who threw it, not that it mattered. I let loose with several volleys from my pulse rifle, the third burst finishing her off. Any Shadow Thrall left in the room melted away without her malevolent will to sustain them.

The only other way in or out of the room was a door behind where the Wizard had been. We crossed through the room carefully, listening for the arrival of any more Taken. Nothing appeared. Anything waiting to ambush us would have been behind the door then. No point in waiting, they had to know we were here. I kicked the door open and we stormed into the room beyond.

The room looked like it had been occupied by many workers in the ancient past, with several identical tables set in rows, many of which were damaged by the years. Darcel was to the left of the door, gathering up materials from one of them. He cast a quick glance toward us as we entered, mouthing words I couldn't hear. Between him and us stood a number of Taken of all shapes and sizes. They immediately started shooting, while we returned fire and sought cover. Baruch was too slow getting down, and a blast from a Taken Vandal's wire rifle punched through his helmet and he fell heavily to the ground.

I scrambled over to the fallen Titan, kneeling over his corpse. Summoning the Void, I flung my arms outward, creating a Ward of Dawn around the two of us. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the others step inside the defensive bubble and then back out, letting the Light reinvigorate them and the Blessings of the Light add a temporary shield to help withstand the withering enemy fire.

“Get him up, quickly,” I shouted.

Baruch's Ghost Ariel emerged and spread open her shell, a beam of Light connecting her to her Guardian. Elgan materialized as well, assisting to try to revive Baruch as quickly as possible. Typically that would result in a Guardian being back on their feet within a matter of seconds. This time, however, something went wrong.

The beams sputtered and then shut down.

The Ghosts shells whirred in confusion, then Elgan turned toward me.

“I... Something... Claney...” the Ghosts sputtered, then his and Ariel's central core flickered and went dark, their star-like shapes dropping onto Baruch's corpse.

At that moment, I felt like someone ripped something from the very center of my being. I sagged forward and my Ward vanished. I saw the rest of my team stagger and stumble. Celeste clutched her chest and fell to her knees. Tanton slumped against the wall, a hand flailing out like he was trying to grasp something. Kana dropped to her knees.

Through my confusion I heard Darcel cry out as well. Whatever had happened, it had affected him too. I looked up to see a Taken Phalanx stride toward me and lower its shield. I couldn't even work up the energy to try to avoid the imminent blast. All I could do was watch the shield build an Arc charge that fired at me, knocking me backward with sudden force, flinging me backward.

I slammed hard into the wall behind me and everything went dark.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

Thrall flowed around us in a river of desiccated flesh and gnashing teeth. They poured from every nook and cranny around, from hidden tunnels that we hadn't seen until we were right on top of them. We thought we had pushed the Hive back to this point, but instead it looked like we had waded right into a trap.

“Cut them down!” Donvan roared, opening fire with his heavy machine gun. 

The torrent of bullets tore through the creatures, mixing cries of agony with the screams of rage they had been unleashing. The fireteam fought close together, fending off the horde of vicious aliens while trying to keep an eye out for the greater threats, the Knights and Wizards. At the moment we did not see any, but the threat was ever present.

We had come to the Moon with hundreds of other Guardians, informed by reports delivered by Rezyl Azzir regarding the creatures that had infested it and spurred on by the Battle of Burning Lake. The battle had waged fiercely for hours at this point, with no end in sight. The offensive had made good progress, however, and we were gaining ground steadily before hitting this particular quagmire.

The terrain had forced the front lines to split into a couple different directions. Fireteam Bierchart was near the tip of this particular spear, and so we found ourselves right in the midst of the enemy. One Thrall had managed to slip in close and launched itself at me. I fended off the skeletal creature, but was distracted enough to miss whatever hit me from the side. Whatever it was struck hard enough to break bone and drove the wind out of my lungs.

I hit the ground with a thud, gasping with spots dancing around my vision. Donvan turned toward me, his white and blue armor standing out in contrast against the bodies surrounding us. I could hear him shouting something, but couldn't make it out at first.

“Get up, Claney!” I finally heard through the sounds of the battle. I struggled to rise to my feet, and he kept yelling it, “Claney, get up!”

At some point, however, the words changed. Rather than, “Get up,” it sounded like, “Wake up.” His voice seemed different as well, the pitch higher and the statement sounding less like a yell and more like a sibilant whisper. 

“Wake up, Claney. Please, wake up,” the voice repeated, and it was clearly no longer Donvan, but the voice of Celeste. “Old Man. Dad!”

My eyes snapped open to see that I was not on the Moon but sitting in a damaged lab of some sort, and a wave of confusion washed over me. I was sitting on the floor with my arms behind me in an uncomfortable position. My head was killing me and I had a vague feeling of something not being right, that I shouldn't be waking up this way, but I couldn't figure it out at first. The only two things that carried over from one thought to the next was the sharp pain in my side and a voice saying my name.

Then I remembered the Taken Phalanx. I'd been struck point blank by its Arc blast. Getting caught like that would often have resulted in another death and resurrection, but this didn't feel like Elgan had brought me back...

Elgan.

It all came back to me then with sudden clarity. Baruch being shot. The Ghosts failing to bring him back. My Ward collapsing. Elgan and Ariel falling to the ground. The fogginess that had been clouding my thoughts cleared and I came fully alert. I tried to move but found that I could not. My arms were uncomfortable because they were restrained. Glancing to the other members of my team, I could see that they were similarly bound. Celeste was looking at me, her face a mix of relief and apprehension. Tanton and Kana still seemed to be unconscious. A pair of armored legs stuck out from behind a nearby table. They'd left Baruch where he fell.

Across the room, Taken forms shuffled about working on tasks that I couldn't make out from where I was. Darcel was with them, seemingly giving commands that the misshapen creatures were following. He turned toward me when one of the dark forms made an unintelligible noise. The Warlock whispered something to a Taken Psion and then stalked over toward us.

“Well, that makes two of the four, I guess that will do for now,” he said as he approached. When he was close, he crouched down, coming eye to eye with me. “At first I was going to ask what it was your team had done to me, demand you undo it, but I wasn't the only one affected, was I?”

“We didn't do anything,” I managed, which brought a smirk from Darcel.

“Oh, I know that now,” he said dismissively. “I figured that out when your friend over there never hopped back up to resume the fight. So, while you were napping, I did a little investigating. The Tower's satellites seem to be out of commission, but my friends here have other means of communication. The entire system is in chaos right now as it appears that a Cabal fleet invaded the system, launched a brutally efficient assault, ransacked the Tower, and somehow stopped the flow of Light from the Traveler.”

“What?” I asked, baffled. “How is that possible?”

“I don't know,” he admitted, “a puzzle for another time. Right now, I have a more immediate concern. You. The question is, why are you here? I warned Jalaal what would happen if he sent anyone else, and dealt with his assassins accordingly. However, I doubt he was responsible for your presence today, given the lack of Dead Orbit regalia worn by any of your fireteam. Still, it is also clear you were specifically looking for me. So, who sent you here and why? The Vanguard?”

I opted not to answer, instead repeating in my mind what he had told me about the Tower. Could the Cabal really have destroyed it and done something to the Traveler? 

“Who sent you?” he demanded again.

I blinked slowly and gave my best “you're a complete moron” look. He responded to that by balling up his fist and punching me in the face.

“I know a ten year old little girl back at the Tower that hits harder than that,” I told him with a smirk.

His nostrils flared in anger and he stood up quickly. He snapped a kick that I was unable to avoid, his foot striking me against my head. Without my arms to brace myself, I couldn't stop from falling over. Spots swam in front of my vision briefly. 

“The Tower is gone and your ten year old is probably dead,” he snarled.

That brought a reaction from Celeste. I couldn't see her from my current position, but I could hear her struggling against her bonds. The Warlock moved away from me, in her direction. I rolled to my stomach and tried to get my feet beneath me to get back up, but a large, shadowy figure grabbed me and spun me around, slamming me back down to the ground. One of the Taken Cabal.

“It seems I struck a nerve with someone at least,” he said after the display was finished. “Hello, little Hunter. Perhaps you will be more forthcoming with answers than the dullard Titan.”

“Not likely,” she answered defiantly.

The Warlock sighed and backhanded her. Celeste glared at him, not making a sound. Anger flared through me and I lashed out with my foot, narrowly missing his knee. He danced back a step and drew a sidearm, aiming it at me.

“I suppose it doesn't matter in the end. Whoever it was is likely dead now. As each of you will be soon. If only you had been wise enough to see the dangers of the Tower and trusting the Traveler alone, and had developed a back-up plan. Like me,” the Warlock said and spread his arms indicating the Taken.

“And what makes you so sure that plan still works?” I asked. “Without the Light to power you, to allow you to keep fighting beyond death, what exactly do you bring to the table that makes it worth the Taken's while?”

Doubt seemed to flash across his features for a second before disappearing without a trace. “I still have value, unlike yourselves. I have knowledge that the Taken will want and if an army of idiots like the Cabal can find a way to block the Light, I am confident I can find a way to get it back. Beyond that, even if the Taken were to try to change our deal, I have contingency plans.”

“I hope those plans involve lying in a pool of your own blood,” Celeste muttered, “because that is where you'll end up.”

“I am suddenly very weary of the two of you,” Darcel sighed. “Enjoy bleeding out without a Ghost to heal you.”

The Warlock snapped his arm downward and squeezed the trigger of his gun. The unexpected report echoed loudly in the room, followed by the sound of a bullet striking metal. He had fired at my leg, probably in retaliation for the attempt to kick him. Fortunately for me, it had been my left leg and he shot my prosthesis.

“What?” Confusion flashed across his face at the unexpected result. The emotion didn't have much time to register, however, as it was replaced by shock and fear.

Tanton sprung from his spot on the floor to my right. It seemed he had regain consciousness at some point without giving any indication, and had used the distraction of Darcel's interaction with me and Celeste to work his way free of his bonds. Knives flashed in his hands as he lunged at the Warlock. The first strike slashed across Darcel's arm, tearing through his robes and into his flesh. Tanton whirled, bringing around the other knife. The Warlock staggered back and the blade buried itself in his shoulder above his heart, which had been the likely target.

Darcel cried out in pain and staggered backward, falling to the ground. Taken reacted to the unexpected attack, but Tanton produced more knives, several of which flew from his fingers and buried themselves in the dark aliens.

“Defend me!” Darcel screamed. 

Several of the Taken converged on him, dragging him back. Portals tore open and most of the Taken retreated from the field. The ones that remained took cover, revealing themselves only enough to fire shots toward Tanton, who ducked to safety. He scuttered over to me and Celeste, freeing us, before doing the same for Kana-4 who was still unresponsive. It seemed that whatever the Taken had done to her had done a number on her circuits.

Our guns had been taken from us, though apparently they had missed a number of Tanton's knives. I had no idea where he'd secreted them for them to remain hidden. Looking for anything I could use as a weapon, I noticed Baruch's legs again. Since he was no longer a threat, perhaps they hadn't worried about him. I dashed over to his body and found his scout rifle on the ground where he had dropped it. Picking up the weapon, I popped up from cover and opened fire, dropping the remaining few enemies.

“Looks like the last of them,” I said, lowering the rifle. I nearly set it back beside Baruch before remembering he wouldn't need it anymore, that he wasn't getting back up. I placed it on my back and looked back down at him, then from him to the darkened star-burst of our Ghosts.

I stooped down and picked up their shells, watching for any hint of life, but saw nothing. It wasn't the first time I had seen a dead Ghost, of course. Elgan and I had discovered more than a few over years scattered around the solar system, sometimes with the remains of their Guardian lying nearby. I had usually assumed that they were Ghosts that had outlived or never found their Guardian. I'd never considered the possibility of the Ghost dying first, despite the presence of Eris in the Tower. Maybe I just hadn't wanted to.

Gently, I set Ariel back down with her Guardian. I cupped both hands around Elgan and lifted him while lowering my head, bringing him against the face of my helmet and closed my eyes. I could hear the others moving, but didn't look. There were things to do, and there would be more time for it later, but I could at least give him this moment.

“Goodbye, buddy,” I whispered, then hooked the Ghost inside my belt near my mark and rose to my feet.

“What now?” Celeste asked.

I looked in her direction. She and Tanton were helping Kana to her feet. Apparently the Exo had reactivated at some point. The three of them were looking to me to get them back home, and I was not about to fail them like I had Baruch.

“The first thing we need is a way off this rock,” I said. “Without our Ghosts, we have no way of reaching our own ships. That means we have to find alternate transport.”

“I... hear they h... have a great public transit system here on Mars,” Kana managed.

“Cabal Expressways,” Celeste retorted, “one-way ticket to the ground.”

“You're more right than you know,” I said, which got a stare from them.

“The Cabal?” Celeste questioned. “You think we can get a ship from the Cabal?”

“I'd be open to any other suggestions, but,” I shrugged, “quite frankly, that's the only option I see.”

“And how do you suggest we do that without weapons or our Light? We'll be killed,” Kana chimed in.

“Again, I'm open to other ideas,” I said.

“Passed a base not far from here. Worth taking a look.” Tanton chimed in.

“Glad someone sees it my way. Before we leave, we'll double check here, see if we can find our weapons or any others that Darcel might have had or left behind. If nothing else, there should be something you can break off and use as a club.”

“What do we do about...” Kana asked and gestured toward Baruch's corpse.

“As much as I hate it, we're going to have to leave him behind,” I replied. “If we had transportation, some way to move him, we would take him with us. As it is, we're facing a stiff enough challenge without one of us being burdened and unable to fight. We'll have to give him a makeshift burial and come back after we find out what is happening with the Tower. Assuming we survive.”

The Exo nodded, then added, “We should at least take his Ghost.”

I was hesitant. The two of them belonged together. Dead Ghosts did sometimes provide useful information from their memories, and having her would be a way to honor Baruch if we were unable to come back for his actual body. After a brief internal debate, I nodded. Kana reverently picked up Ariel and hooked her in her belt like I had with Elgan. Seeing the care she took, I wondered if any of that came from an inability to do anything for her own Ghost. When whatever it was that happened happened, the other's Ghosts had all been in their dissipated form, absorbed into their armor.

Tanton, Celeste, and Kana looked through the room, and then spread through other rooms in the facility, looking for anything to use as a weapon. While they did that, I set about interring the dead. I lifted his corpse from the floor, draping him across my shoulder and set off toward the ground floor. There was a wall that had been collapsed by the Martian sand that seemed like it would be a good spot.

I reached my destination, and it did look like it would work. I laid him down with care and then set about the task of moving aside some of the rubble to clear a large enough place for the body. Each piece of rubble was large enough that I doubt I would have been able to do this alone before my resurrection. The Traveler had given many gifts, it seems not all of them were lost with the Light.

I lost track of how long I spent moving pieces of wall, pushing aside sand and other debris. Sweat ran down my face inside my helmet by the time I was done. A space had been cleared long and wide enough for the body to be laid flat. I'd say comfortably, if that was a thing that mattered. I'd managed to put some pieces in place to create a wall to surround the body, like the Wall surrounded the City. I hoisted Baruch up again and placed him in the makeshift sarcophagus. There was a large section of building material that would make a respectable lid to cover him. I put it in place, then set about covering it with sand and other rubble to camouflage his resting place a bit. I stepped back and examined my work. Satisfied, I nodded and went looking for the rest of the fireteam.

The three of them were back in the room where we'd had our encounter with Darcel. They each turned toward me when I entered the room, their body language tense. Not much luck then.

“No luck?” I asked for verification.

“No,” Celeste answered. “If that worm-licker of a Warlock kept a secret armory, it must have been at one of those other locations. All we found here was a sidearm in a drawer. It was loaded, but there were no extra mags anywhere.”

“Other than that, it's sticks and stones,” Kana added. “Which break bones but don't do much against heavy armor plating.”

“It's not much,” I admitted, “but it is a little more than we started with. Time to go see what we're facing.”

We set off in the direction of the Cabal firebase. If we had access to our sparrows, it would have been a trip of minutes. The longer travel time on foot wouldn't have been an issue under different conditions either, but I hadn't quite thought through how much we lost by not having our Ghosts. Food and water supplies were going to be much more limited as well. It made the walk look questionable, but also drove home the necessity of the risk. We needed to get off this planet or we would die.

Of course, chances were good we would die in the attempt.

Another factor I hadn't taken into consideration before setting off was the fact that Darcel had shot my prosthetic leg. I'd been so distracted with everything that had to be done while we were in the building that I hadn't noticed it acting up. Now that we were doing nothing but walking, I was growing aware of small issues with the mechanics of it. Issues that were starting to become more noticeable the longer we walked and the more sand that slipped into the bullet hole. I tried to ignore it and act like nothing but was wrong, but I noticed Celeste kept looking at me. She could tell something was off.

Stepping close, she whispered, “You alright, Old Man?”

“It's the leg,” I admitted after a moment. “Function is going to fail soon, I think, then it will just be a lump of metal I'm perched on.”

“Do we need to do something?”

“Nothing we can do about it right now,” I shrugged. “How are you holding up?”

“Honestly, I don't know,” she said with a sigh. “I mean, we lived without Light before, right? In our old lives, that is. Whose to say we can't manage to do it again?”

“With any luck, we won't have to. I'm sure the Vanguard are planning to find a way to counteract whatever it is the Cabal did.”

“But what if they're dead?”

“Then we burn that bridge when we get there,” I said, “but I won't give the space turtles that much credit.”

Eventually, we reached our destination and our hopes sank. The base was swarming with Cabal, showing even more increased activity than what we had been noticing previously. There would be no hope of sneaking into the base and stealing a ship without being noticed.

“Well, now what?” Kana asked.

I had no answer.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 

“I heard a joke once.”

Kana-4, Celeste, and I all turned out heads to look at Tanton, puzzled by the non-sequitur. We had been trying to figure out a way that the four of us could slip into a Cabal base and steal a ship to get off Mars. He had been observing silently like normal until he dropped that comment on us.

“I didn't think you knew what a joke was,” Kana quipped in response, though it lacked her usual energy.

“Why are you bringing that up now?” I asked.

“Seemed apropos,” he said with a shrug.

“Still not following.”

“It goes like this,” he began, leaning forward, “An army of Cabal was tracking across Mars when a voice shouts over the hill, 'One Guardian is better than ten Cabal!' So the Cabal commander sends ten Legionaries over the hill. After a short firefight, the voice calls out again, 'One Guardian is better than twenty Cabal.' Outraged, the commander sends twenty troops over the hill. Once again, a short firefight follows and the voice calls out again, 'One Guardian is better than a hundred Cabal.'

“The Cabal commander decides to send the half of his remaining troops over the hill. The sounds of a fierce firefight follow, then silence. Eventually a lone Phalanx crawls back over the hill, nearly dead. 'Don't send anymore troops,' it croaks out. 'It's a trick, there are two of them.'”

Kana choked out a laugh that she barely concealed while I just stared at the Hunter, uncertain of how to respond to the moment.

“What...? How does...? Ugh!” Celeste turned away, throwing her hands up in the air.

“I think she would like some clarification.”

“Subterfuge,” he said. “Draw some of them to us and ambush them.”

“With what? We barely have any weapons and, if you'll remember, we don't have our Light,” Kana stated as if any of us had forgotten.

“Do you have a better idea?” Tanton asked, which brought silence from the Exo Titan.

“It isn't a terrible idea,” I said, the wheels turning in my head. “Especially if we draw the right Cabal to us. If we can get one of the Interceptors to come over and we can take out the Psion pilot...”

“Then we could turn that against them!” Celeste added excitedly.

“And with that firepower, we could potentially cause enough chaos to get in and steal a ship.”

“You two really need to stop doing things like that,” Kana commented with a note of humor in her voice.

“What can I say,” Celeste replied, “we're family. Plus, he's a Titan. Always easy to know what he's thinking before he says it.”

“I resent that very much,” Kana said, placing her hands on her hips.

I smiled under my helmet, glad to hear some semblance of their usual banter returning. It meant we might be able to look past what we didn't have, what we'd lost, and be able to focus on the task at hand. Who knows, maybe we could even pull it off. Maybe.

We spent the next several hours monitoring the Cabal base, ignoring the hunger beginning to gnaw at our stomachs. Well, the organic members of the team, at any rate. A likely target became obvious fairly quickly, but we continued to watch it to make certain. On the western edge of the base, an Interceptor kept up patrol. Every so often, one vehicle would return to the hangar and a replacement would come, keeping the same watch.

Once we had our target chosen, we had to carefully maneuver into position to get its attention without the rest of the Cabal spotting us. At some point during the watch, my prosthetic quit functioning altogether, leaving it an inert lump. Just like living without Light, people had gotten by for a long time with old-fashioned fake limbs. Just another thing I would have to try to get used to. I had never practiced with it deactivated, so moving quickly was going to be a major issue now. Hopefully I didn't have to worry about that. I detached the scout rifle from my back and handed it to Tanton.

“Your idea, your shot. Make it count.”

“No,” he said, pushing it away. “Give it to Kana. She'll be steadier with it than me right now, and I can use my knives.”

I looked at him for a moment before turning and offering the rifle to Kana. She took it and raised it to her shoulder, looking through the scope. Pulling it down, she nodded. Silently, we moved into position. Kana took position further back, sighting where the Interceptor would have to approach. Tanton and I split to the sides and Celeste drew the sidearm, waiting for the moment to take the shot.

When the Cabal vehicle moved into the correct spot, she stepped out and opened fire. Rounds ricocheted off the armored plating, catching the pilot off guard. The pilot squawked and ducked for cover before looking for the source of the attack. Celeste lingered just long enough for the creature to get a look at her before ducking behind cover. The Psion turned the vehicle toward us, just as we had hoped.

It also called for backup.

I could see several other Cabal troops beginning to muster, looking in our direction as the Interceptor approached. We would have to get control of the vehicle quickly, or the rest of us would be joining Baruch shortly. I stepped from behind my cover and threw a large rock, striking the vehicle and drawing the attention of its pilot. The Interceptor nosed toward me, letting loose with a rocket. I tried to move, but the leg held me up. A shot destroyed the boulder I had been behind, knocking me forcefully to the ground. That turn gave Kana the opening she needed and the scout rifle barked once, a bullet tearing through the head of the Psion.

Celeste quickly jumped onto the Cabal vehicle, yanking the corpse from the pilot seat and dumping it to the ground. Interceptors are not the most nimble of vehicles, but she managed to turn it at a decent rate, opening fire at the approaching legionaries. The rockets exploded, sending bodies tumbling and halting their approach.

Kana opened fire with the rifle, picking off several enemy combatants as they approached. Tanton slipped away and I clambered to my feet, wishing I could do something more other than watch as everyone else put the plan in motion.

The base was really moving now, Cabal boiling out of the buildings through every possible door. Celeste turned the machine again, firing as quickly at the rockets would reload. Explosions rocked the base, knocking Cabal warriors aside when they didn't jump-jet out of the way. One of the rockets ended up passing through an open door and must have found something sensitive as there was a larger explosion and a wave of sirens.

“I think that's our cue,” I said and Celeste nodded. Stepping forward, I found a seam in the metal plates covering the power source of the little vehicle. I jammed my fingers between the panels and pulled back, straining to peel the metal aside. I felt a sharp pain as the metal cut through my gloves and bit into the skin, but ignored it. When the metal came free, I threw it in the direction of the oncoming Cabal.

Celeste jumped out of the machine. Before doing so she jammed the controls, sending it forward to draw attention. We circled in the opposite direction and headed for a Harvester we had made note of earlier. Kana turned back, firing the last few rounds from the scout rifle at the exposed mechanisms of the Interceptor. The power source erupted, setting off the remaining rockets as well. The explosion that followed was not large, but added to the confusion and managed to injure a handful of the enemy.

Two Psions stood between us and the ship. They turned toward us as we approached, but before they could call out or attack Tanton was suddenly behind them, slitting their throats. He nodded and then ran for the vehicle. We followed. Several small explosions began to erupt near us as the Cabal realized we had moved.

We made it on board and the door closed behind us as several shots rang out against the hull. Fortunately, most of the Cabal seemed to be having to deal with whatever had been set off inside the firebase, or they probably would have been able to keep us from stealing the ship. As it stood, Tanton hopped into the command seat and we got the ship off the ground. Several shots from the cannons scattered the nearest ground troops and we were able to complete our escape. Now we just needed to figure out what to do next.

All of our gear was on our ships in orbit. We could pilot the Cabal ship to them, but we had no way to actually get aboard them at that point. Without our weapons, there wasn't going to be a lot we could do in a fight. Also, Tanton, Celeste, and I were going to need rations eventually. We wouldn't be the first Guardians to end up starving to death, but this time we wouldn't have our Ghosts to bring us back. There was still nothing on any Guardian channels, long or short range, so we had no way of knowing what had actually happened with our Light, and no way to get in touch with anyone else. The phrase “up a creek without a paddle” came to mind. So did thoughts about needing a miracle. 

“Set us down once we are a safe distance away. We need to plan our next move,” I told Tanton. 

The Hunter nodded in response. After a few minutes of travel, he set the Harvester down near a rocky outcropping to provide some visual cover.

I removed my helmet and set it to the side; the others followed suite. As one they turned to look at me, and I could feel blue eyes, brown eyes, and yellow optics boring into me, waiting to see what I had to say. Once again, I was reminded of why I had never sought to lead a fireteam in the past. If I ran around throwing myself at trouble, the only person to pay for my mistakes was me. Having to be responsible for the lives of others wasn't something I had ever really wanted. Doubly so now that any deaths would be final. I outlined to them everything I had been thinking about the ships and about supplies. While I went over the details, an obvious solution hit me that I had somehow missed before.

“Kana!” I nearly shouted in the mid-sentence.

The Exo startled as if I had just reached across and slapped her. “Yes?”

“I don't know why I didn't think about it before. You could pass from one ship to the other, so long as we tether you to the Harvester somehow to keep you from floating away. We'd have to tear a hole in the ship to get you in, meaning it would be unusable after, but we could at least get supplies offloaded and bring them over.”

“I could do that,” she said, bobbing her head. “I wouldn't have to worry about oxygen like you three.”

We searched through the ship, but found nothing suitable to use as a tether.

“We don't have to use anything,” Kana offered as our frustration mounted. “I could just jump from one ship to the other, and jump back. I bet I could do it easy enough.”

“No way,” I shook my head, rejecting the proposal. “You miss and you're sailing off into space. We'd have no way to get you back. I'm not going to risk that.”

Celeste sighed, “Then we're back to square one.”

It was then that we got our miracle.

“G... Guardian?” 

The voice was weak and wavering, but instantly recognizable. The one voice I probably knew better than my own.

“Elgan?”

I glanced down toward my belt where I had tucked the inert form of his shell earlier. A dim light was now glowing from the star-burst shape. I pulled him free, looking at the faintly glowing “eye” in the middle as a wave of relief washed over me.

“C... Claney?” he asked again, and the sections of his shell began to twist experimentally. 

With an unsteady lurch, the Ghost lifted from the palm of my hand and began to hover. Around me, I could see the other Guardian's Ghosts emerging, regaining their physical forms.

In a moment of overwhelming joy, I grabbed onto the little floating AI with both hands and brought him to me, kissing one of the green points of his shell like a parent kissing their child's forehead. Though, I guess that was a backward analogy given that he was responsible for me being alive.

“Don't... don't do that...,” the Ghost stated.

“Won't happen again,” I said. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you alive again.”

“Oh, I can hazard a guess. You're generally hopeless without me.”

I laughed at that. I wasn't the only one laughing. I could hear the others around me too, everyone caught up in the joyful reunions. Well, joyful for most.

“Baruch?” Arial's panicked voice broke through the happier sounds. The Ghost had dislodged herself from Kana's belt and was moving wobbly back and forth through the space, seeking her Guardian. “Where is Baruch?”

“Arial,” I called, drawing the little AI's attention and she flittered over to me.

“Yes?”

I drew a deep breath. “He's gone.”

“What do you mean?”

I told her about Baruch's death when the Light disappeared and how I had interred him back in the building. I removed his mark from where it was tucked into my belt and held it out to her. A quick burst of light from her and it was gone. The edges of her shell drooped and then she silently drifted into a corner, settling down facing away from us. She refused to respond to anyone after that, Guardian or Ghost. The earlier happiness had disappeared from the room almost entirely. Silence descended and held until Kana broke it with a question.

“If the Ghosts are back, does that mean the Light is back?”

“No,” her Ghost Della replied. “I can not feel the Traveler. What happened?”

“No clue,” Celeste replied. She was sitting with her hand outstretched. Whisper was settled onto her palm and she was petting him like a cat.

“I'm fairly certain the Cabal either know what happened or had something to do with it,” I added. “Their uptick in activity before and since is too obvious to be a coincidence. Can't say anything for certain though, since we haven't heard from the City at all since it happened. We should be able to fix that now, though. Can you transmat us up to our ships?”

“I don't think so. Not from this far, not yet. I can't speak for the others, but I'm too weak,” Elgan managed. The other Ghosts agreed.

“Then we stick to the original plan of getting in orbit. You'll just have to skip out on the spacewalk, Kana. Try not to be too disappointed. Once we're close to the ships, the Ghosts can get us over and then we head back to Earth. We need to find out what is happening at the Tower. Once we're closer to home, maybe we can pick up some signals. That or just fly in and see it with our own eyes.”

When I finished speaking, Elgan told me, “You have to be careful. Without the Traveler, I can heal you but I can't resurrect you. If you die, I can't bring you back.”

“Noted. Think you can do anything about this?” I asked, rapping my knuckles against my mechanical prosthetic.

Elgan swept a thin beam of light over me. Even this looked weaker than I was used to seeing from him. A moment later, I could feel the leg responding to my thoughts again, and the damage the metal plates had done to my hands was cleared up as well.

“Thanks,” I sighed. Much better.

“Like I said, lost without me,” the Ghost's shell twirled in amusement.

“What happens if the Light never comes back?” Kana asked. “Do you think the Cabal could have destroyed the Traveler?”

“No way,” Whisper said, rising from Celeste's hand.

“How can you be so certain?” Kana responded.

“If the Darkness couldn't kill the Traveler, how could a bunch of stupid space turtles?”

“Galactic empire. Blows up planets for giggles,” the Exo ticked off the points on her fingers.

“Arguing gets us nowhere,” I interrupted before she made her third point. “We need to just find out what happened.”

“It could be dangerous to go flying back to Earth,” Celeste commented. “If the Cabal are responsible, we might get up there to find an entire fleet between us and home.”

“We're Guardians. Danger is what we do.” Yes, I realized how cheesy it sounded as soon as I said it.

“Even without our Light?” Kana questioned. “Are we still Guardians?”

“Of course,” Celeste replied.

“I agree,” Tanton chimed in.

The questions continued. “How can we be? We took action on Mars because we had to or we would die. But how can we do anything now? We can't take on an entire fleet without any powers.”

“Yes, our Light has helped define us,” I said. “Our affinity to the Light is part of the reason we carry labels like 'Titan' or 'Hunter'. Our Light has given us the strength to wage war across the solar system. It is the reason we are even here. But Light alone doesn't make us Guardians. 

“Before the Last City, those reborn through the Traveler were simply called 'Risen'. The majority of them set themselves up as Warlords, using their new strength to grab and hoard power for themselves. Even now, some resurrected in the Light choose to follow a different path like the Warlock we were chasing when we came to Mars. They had the Light, but they were not Guardians.

“We are not Guardians because of the Light. That only makes us Risen. We are Guardians because of the choices we make. We choose to fight for those who do not have the strength to do it for themselves. We choose to oppose those who would see humanity wiped form the universe. We. Choose. So now we make another choice. Whether or not you are still a Guardian.

“Me? I'm still a Guardian. I will continue to be a Guardian until I die my final death, because there is something in the core of my being that demands that I do everything in my power to protect those around me. That includes the people on this ship. That includes anyone left in the City, Guardians who are probably struggling to survive like we are, and civilians who now must fend for themselves as the shield they have lived behind has now fallen.

“So yes, I am still a Guardian,” I concluded. “What are you?”

“I am a Guardian,” Kana replied.

I stared hard at her. Yellow optics stared back, unflinching. After a moment, I reached over and patted her shoulder.

“Alright, then. Painted Truth, time to go get answers.”

“Nice speech, Old Man,” Celeste grinned, leaning over to bump her arm against mine.

“Thanks, Kiddo. Tanton, get us to our ships.”

The Hunter nodded and put his helmet back on. Celeste, Kana, and I did the same. Tanton settled back into the pilot seat, getting the Harvester back into the air. We ascended rapidly, leaving the sands of Mars behind.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 

I doubt I ever enjoyed a meal as much as I enjoyed the ration bar I tore into once aboard Lost Days. Sure, it tasted bland as ever, but I can't recall the last time I'd been that hungry either. Maybe back in the early days, either after I was revived but hadn't made it to the Last City or during some of the harder training exercises once I was there, but that was a lifetime ago. Here and now, any food and the easing hunger were both reminders that we were still alive against high odds, and things that we had taken for granted in our lives as Guardians were now more dangerous than they had ever been.

We found our ships undisturbed in orbit and everyone except Arial transmatted off the Harvester. The little Ghost refused. Before leaving for his own craft, Tanton programmed the Cabal vessel to land near the building where we had left Baruch. Whenever we came back for him, something told me that we would find a dead Ghost with him. I could still make out the shape of the craft as it dropped down into the thin atmosphere of Mars. Looking the other direction, the rest of the fireteam held position awaiting instructions. Time to get going.

“Elgan, open a channel to everyone.” The Ghost chirped a confirmation. “Listen up, everyone. We still have no contact from anyone back home, so we are going to head back to Earth to get a visual of the situation. Chances are, we'll be flying into an extremely hostile environment.

“We'll drop out of NLS a bit further back than normal and approach with caution. If the Cabal have managed to take the City, we will swing wide. Ghosts, continuously monitor all available radio channels to try to pick up any signals that might be broadcasting. Perhaps there is someone trying to reach out, but the loss of satellites is preventing it.”

“What if the Cabal are in orbit in force and we can't even get close to the City?” Kana asked.

“Then we go wide around them, get down into the atmosphere, and try to come in closer underneath. Unless we pick up a signal from someone before then.” Then, to my Ghost, “Elgan, keep monitoring all Guardian frequencies. Someone has to be saying something.”

“Of course,” the Ghost replied, his electronic voice still sounding strained. Whatever the Cabal had done to the Traveler was taking a major toll on him.

We turned in formation and left Mars behind, heading home. With the ship following a prescribed path, I closed my eyes and leaned over, resting my chin in my right hand, the fingers of my left hand drumming idly against the armor my thigh. What would we find when we got there? Had the Cabal managed to complete destroy the Tower? Level the City? I wouldn't have believed it possible, but the loss of Light and the complete lack of communication had me assuming the worst.

Was the Vanguard all dead? How many Guardians had been outside the City like us when the Cabal hit? Had anyone made it out after the attack?

No. I opened my eyes and shook my head. That line of thought lead nowhere. Let it go. Someone had to be left, and we would find them. There was no other option.

We dropped back to normal speeds and approached the planet with caution. There was little reason for it, however. Whatever the Cabal were doing, they clearly were not worried about anyone coming up behind them. Nothing was left in orbit. Nothing that wasn't destroyed, at any rate. We made atmosphere unchallenged. Flying low, we banked and headed toward the City.

While approaching the City, there was little to mark that an invading force had passed through the area. No scorched earth, no signs of attack. It wasn't until we had visual contact with the Last City that we saw any signs of devastation. The Cabal strike had been very precise. Their ships hovered near the Traveler and above the City and smoke rose from inside the Wall. Wreckage of other Guardian ships were scattered randomly in the immediate vicinity. From this distance, nothing moved.

“Pull back and set us down before they spot us.”

Elgan chirped confirmation and then turned the ship back in the direction we'd come. Shortly after, it slowed and settled into a clearing. The rest of the team followed suite. Once we were all down, I transmatted out. I wanted to see everything with my own eyes. I heard three other people materialize behind me.

“No one else has to follow, but I'm going to approach on foot. I want to take a longer look at everything, but didn't want to risk getting close or lingering with the ships,” I announced.

Celeste responded, “If you think any of us would hang back, you must have hit your head harder back on Mars than we thought.”

“Just making the disclaimer.”

“Noted. If we get shot, no one sue my dad.”

I snorted a little laugh at that. “Assuming any lawyers survived the attack.”

The brief moment of levity passed and we walked in silence from there. Everyone was on edge, keeping an eye out for any sign of Cabal. We didn't need to be quite so cautious, however. Nothing was moving anywhere near us. We stopped once we found an overlook that gave us a decent view but also plenty of cover.

“Ghosts out, record everything,” I said.

The others nodded and three Ghosts materialized, splitting up to cover everything from multiple angles. The only one not present was Elgan who had stayed behind on the Lost Days checking for word from anyone about what was happening.

“So close to home, yet so far,” Kana sighed. 

I understood the feeling. From where we were I could see the Wall, and it was painful. Not that long ago, we'd dealt with the SIVA crisis and the Devil Splicers had torn a hole in the Wall. It had felt like a deeply personal wound. Now the Cabal had rendered the Wall useless. The Tower was topped by rubble, the City was taken. It felt like everything I stood for had been violated. My fists clinched involuntarily.

“We'll be back in there again,” I replied. “We'll kick the Cabal out and retake our home. Somehow.”

“Look at the Traveler,” Celeste said, pointing. “What did they do to it?”

I had been so consumed with the damage to the City and the Wall that I hadn't even looked at the Traveler. I turned my eyes from the damaged structures and up to the sleeping giant that was the source of our Light and lives. A red energy grid of some sort encased nearly the entire sphere. A shape like a six-pointed star was affixed to one side, likely the source of the energy field.

“What do you think that is?”

“No clue,” I said with a shrug. “Scott could probably figure it out.”

“Scott!” Celeste gasped. “I completely forgot about Scott! Do you think he and Astrid made it out?”

It struck me that I hadn't thought of the Exo Warlock before that moment either. I'd been so focused on getting us off Mars and here, I'd forgotten about a member of the team. Once again, so consumed by one thing directly in front of me that I had missed something important. I cursed myself silently for the lapse. Some leader of a fireteam I was turning out to be.

“They had to,” Kana stated with a certainty that didn't quite ring true. “There had to have been a lot of Guardians who made it out. Scott likely wouldn't have been in the front lines of any attempt to repel the Cabal, I'm sure he made it.”

“And Astrid knows more ways out of the Tower than anyone,” I said of the mini-Titan. “If anyone could slip past the Cabal troops and escape, it's her.”

“Lets hope so.”

We stayed and observed for a time, watching and making notes of any Cabal movements we could see. The Ghosts recorded the entire time, giving us something to look over later for any details we might have missed. With reluctance, we turned and headed back to the where we left the ships. The return trek was as uneventful as the walk there had been. Elgan flittered over as we returned to the ships. 

“Have we picked up any signals?” I asked.

“I thought I heard someone broadcasting a message, but it was mostly static,” Elgan replied, his shell twisting and turning. “I'll keep trying to see if I can clean it up. There is one strong signal, but it is old and seems to have been repeating since the attack. From Zavala. An order to... evacuate the planet.”

“What?” I asked, incredulous.

“That's what it says. All Guardians, evacuate the planet.”

“Why would he do that?” Kana asked. “The City and its people are everything to Zavala. I can understand retreating to regroup, but to completely abandon the planet and leave them all behind?”

“I'm not sure I understand it either,” I admitted. “Although it wouldn't be the first time he's taken a more cautious approach in the face of overwhelming odds.. Zavala and Lord Saladin both wanted to pull back at the Gap while Shaxx wanted to press the assault.”

“But all the way off world?” Celeste questioned. “That seems like more than just caution. I don't like it.”

“Me either, but I have to believe Zavala had something in mind. The question is, what do we do now?”

“Knowing that the signal we are searching for would have an extraterrestrial origin,” Elgan offered, “I might have better luck tuning in to any beacon or coordinates the Commander had broadcast. I was mostly listening toward the Earth before.”

“Maybe. But I don't like the idea of leaving again.”

“But if it is what the Commander ordered, maybe we should,” Kana suggested. “We can regroup with other Guardians and find out what they are planning.”

“Not everyone would have been able to follow that order,” Celeste offered. “Many would have gone to ground alone to try to ride it out, but there has to be some sort of gathering place. Maybe we could find it.”

“We could check Hunter hideouts as well,” Tanton added.

“There are probably a lot of Guardians doing that, just like during transmission. Except this time we wouldn't be hiding from other Guardians who would know where to look for us.” Celeste said.

Mentioning the last time we'd had to go into hiding stabbed another pang of guilt about Scott and reminded me of Zillah. She'd left to join the pacifist colony, wherever that was. Had they managed to escape the notice of the Cabal fleet, or had the aliens spotted them and left their home a smoking ruin as well? For that matter, what had happened with the Reef? Too many questions. We needed to find a place where we could get some answers.

“We need to find something organized, but I don't want to go off-world. Try to figure out a likely place for other Guardians to fall back to.”

“What about the ships?” Kana asked. “We can't exactly park them in orbit right now, and they won't last too long just sitting here.”

“Camouflage. Cover them up with some foliage to break up the view from above and just hope no Cabal come wandering this way on patrol,” Celeste answered.

I nodded. “Let's get to it.”

Even with the four of us working, it took some time to gather up and pull down enough to cover all the ships. We had to be careful to not pull down too much from any one spot and clear any new areas that might draw attention. It wasn't quite as strenuous as moving the ruble to make a place to lay Baruch, branches weren't as heavy, of course. I think the threat of detection put more strain on everyone that the actual labor.

Eventually there was enough in place to make it unlikely any Cabal passing overhead would spot the ships unless they were specifically looking. Ground level was a different story, of course. Standing next to them, our attempt to hide them almost looked laughable. Of course, a massive mound of sticks and branches just stacked up here would look out of place as well. It was what it was.

By the time we'd finished, the sun was beginning to set. Trying to track down a hiding point now didn't seem wise. I didn't like the idea of setting off in the dark with possible unknown dangers lurking. I decided we would stay with the ships for the night and set off in the morning to see what we could find, and assigned myself first watch. There was little argument. I think everyone was still feeling worn from losing their Light. I know I was.

Once everyone was aboard their ships, I settled in to keep watch. It was a beautiful night, not a cloud in sight. Away from the City like this there was no man-made light to blind the eye, so the sky was full of stars. Everything was quiet as well. It would be very easy to forget that not far away whatever was left of our homes was burning.

Behind me, the sound of a transmat and then soft footfalls approached.

“You're supposed to be sleeping,” I said as the shadowy figure sat down next to me.

“I know, but I can't. There's too much to process.”

I turned my head and looked at my daughter. She had removed her helmet. Her cloak was still on, and she was currently keeping it wrapped around her like a blanket. The hood was pulled back though, leaving her head and face exposed. A face that would remain forever youthful, though her eyes were beginning to put the lie to that visage.

She'd been a child when I met her. Resurrected by a Ghost who hadn't known what to do when his charge had turned out to be prepubescent. Probably not a child of the collapse either, as she hadn't seemed to know what to do the first time I put a gun in her hand, unlike many Guardians born with at least that combat skill. Being so young, no one knew what to expect from her. It had surprised many Guardians that she had actually aged physically for a few years, as the prevailing theory was that Guardians did not age. We were immortal so long as we weren't killed. Despite that, she had aged at least a little bit, though it seemed to have stopped with physical maturity.

Now the child was a veteran Guardian. She'd traveled to different planets, fought life or death struggles against alien invaders, and been killed and resurrected many times. This, however, was all new territory. Life without the Light.

“It is a lot, yes,” was the weak reply I offered.

“Nice bit of inspiration there, old man.”

“It's what I do,” I shrugged.

We sat in silence for a bit before she spoke again, “I'm scared.”

I glanced over at her again at the admission. She was staring steadfastly at the ground now, still as a statue.

“Me too.”

That got her to look up.

“Really?”

“Yes,” I said. “I'm scared. You'd have to be a fool not to be. We are blundering about in the dark here with no idea what has been going on or where anyone might be. We've already lost one member or our team, two more are missing, and the rest of us are here in enemy territory without our Light. I am scared that I am going to make the wrong call, and you, Kana, or Tanton are going to pay the price. Mistakes were recoverable before, now they're fatal.”

“So you're worried about us.”

“Yes, that's the main thing,” I replied. “Also, I feel a little lost. Remember, trying to fight without the Light is as foreign to me as it is you. I'm not sure I even know what to do without the Void to lean on.”

Celeste nodded and swallowed hard, then leaned over against me. “Well, you've got me. And I've got you. So there's something.”

I put my arm around her shoulder and we sat that way for the rest of my shift. By the time Tanton appeared for his watch, she was sound asleep. I had Elgan transmat us both onto her ship and I tucked her in for the first time in years before returning to the Lost Days and taking my own rest.

…

The next morning, we prepared to search for other Guardians.

Everyone ate breakfast and then Tanton and Celeste conferred about which location they thought might be the best destination to try first. Once a location was decided on, we set off with the two Hunters taking the lead, Kana in the middle, and I took the rear.

We stuck to cover as best we could, but had to emerge into the open from time to time. Those moments were nerve-wracking. Minus simple instructions or needed communication, we mostly kept radio silence as well. Then we found something that no one could keep quiet about.

It was one of the points where we had to cross an open section of land. The small stretch was barren of vegetation, just a gash of dirt and rock cutting through the greenery. There was some sort of depression running through the area, perhaps the dry bed or a creek or river that had one passed through. Just at the edge of the clearing, a section of the ground seemed to drop away sharply. Our destination.

Celeste went first. She searched the area for any sign of trouble, then dashed toward the dip in the terrain. When she got close, Tanton started after her. He was about halfway across when Celeste's voice broke across the comms.

“By the Traveler...” she said, her voice trailing off. She was standing stock-still, frozen in place by whatever it was she was looking at.

Something in her tone sent shivers down my spine. Kana and I took off across the clearing rather than waiting any longer. Tanton caught up to her and stopped as if he'd run into a wall before dropping to one knee. Celeste turned away from whatever she was looking at and dropped to her knees as well.

I arrived before Kana and spotted the horror before she did. Dead Guardians, at least a dozen. There were supplies scattered all around in a chaotic mess. It was pretty clear that they had been refugees, fleeing the Tower with what little they could carry. Meaning they had been powerless when they were slaughtered.

And it was a slaughter. A charnel house. There were signs of standard Cabal weaponry in use, explosions marking where the mini-rockets they used for ammo had detonated, but there was something else as well. Many of the bodies were shredded, mangled beyond repair. They looked like they had been torn apart by some sort of beast, something strong with sharp teeth and claws. Many of the bodies had been hacked at with large, bladed weapons as well. None of this fit with what we had seen from the Cabal on Mars. What did this?

The corpses line the path we had been intending to follow. Clearly, they had been heading to the same safe haven we had been hoping to find. I wondered if any had managed to make it.

“All these Guardians...,” Kana began, but couldn't finish the thought.

“What do we do?” Celeste asked.

“There's nothing we can do right now,” I answered, feeling sick as I said the words. “We have to leave them here. Maybe when this is all over we can come back for them, memorialize them in some way. If we try to do anything now though, the Cabal will find us and we will just be four more bodies to add to the mix.”

We stood there for longer than was probably safe, taking it all in. Finally, Tanton broke everyone out of their stupor.

“Just up here,” the Hunter said, gesturing.

I had Elgan emerge and scan the bodies as we passed. Perhaps he could get some ID on at least some of them. I saw other Ghosts doing the same. At least they wouldn't remain anonymous corpses.

Pushing through a tangle of plant growth dangling down into the area, Tanton revealed a keypad. He punched in a code and a portion of the wall slid away, revealing a narrow stairwell leading down into the earth. We entered, single-file.

At the other end was another door and another keypad. Again Tanton typed and again a door opened. This time to a much larger room. A room that was completely barren.

When we had entered the safe house back on Venus, it had been overflowing with Guardians. So many had gone in that they were setting up emergency sleep areas, and the place had been buzzing with conversation and questions. Here, silence reigned. The bodies we passed must have been the first Guardians trying to reach this spot, and they never made it. Either no one else tried after that, or they turned away at the sight of the bodies. 

Here we could find rest, maybe supplies, and a limited safety, but there would be no answers.

“No one is here,” Elgan stated, as usual the master of the obvious.

“Clearly,” I said. “Everyone take a quick look around, see if we can find anything of use. Ammo. Food. Check for recorded broadcasts or anything else that might give us some information, then we'll get out of here.”

Kana asked, “We're not going to stay?”

“Why? There's nothing here,” Celeste muttered.

“We could check another location,” Tanton offered.

“No,” I shook my head. “We're not going to keep bouncing around hoping to find someone. We have one lead with the Commander's message. I say we take that and find out where he went. That's the only thing solid we have right now.”

Without another word, everyone began to search. There were stores of emergency rations and ammo, but little else. We only took a little, leaving the rest for anyone else who might stumble across the location. Once we were done, we made the hike back to where we had left the ships.

“Alright, let's see if we can follow Zavala's path and then clear the ships-” I began, but Elgan interrupted me, a note of excitement in his mechanical voice.

“Wait, I'm getting something.”

“What?”

“On a guarded channel. I'd said it was mostly static before, but it seems as if someone or something is working to boost the signal. Someone is broadcasting. Give me a minute.”

The Ghost vanished, phasing into the ship, probably to use its stronger transmitter. We waited for him to reemerge. It wasn't a long wait.

“The signal is definitely growing stronger,” he said as he burst back into existence. “Someone is amplifying the message. Coordinates and an invitation to something know as The Farm. Apparently, it is a safe haven for survivors. Guardian and civilian alike.”

“Who is the message coming from?” Celeste asked

“A woman named Suraya Hawthorne. Not a Guardian.”

“Think we can trust it?” Kana asked.

“Only one way to find out. Let's go.”


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 

The coordinates lead us in the direction of the European Dead Zone. Not a welcoming name. I hadn't found myself in the area over the years, minus the occasional Crucible match. Lord Shaxx did love putting his arenas anywhere and everywhere. He put one of those things on the Darkness-blasted Dreadnaught of all places. Of course “Dead Zone” would be no deterrent, even if it did keep pretty much everyone else out. 

I hadn't been there, but I'd heard stories. Rumor had it that something in the region warped and twisted much of the landscape and wildlife. Stories of “haunted forests” had spread through the Tower a while back, usually by Hunters and drawing even more of them into the area to look around. Enough didn't make it back to convince the Vanguard to... encourage them to stay away, though not enough to official deem it off-limits.

And now we were getting a signal to come join a bunch of refugees there. Funny how life works.

“Anybody have any clue what we're flying into?” Kana-4 asked.

“Nope,” I replied.

“That... That is decidedly unhelpful,” the Exo Titan said in return.

I gave a shrug she couldn't see. “It's what I do.”

Celeste laughed. “Ghost stories. Legends. It's hard sometimes to tell truth from fiction when a bunch Hunters spin yarns around a fire.”

“Or when a Hunter gives a mission report, or talks about gambling winnings, or tells you what they had for breakfast...” I added.

“Oh shush, Old Man.”

“It's why I like it when Tanton talks. He does it so rarely, you know he wouldn't waste it on nonsense.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Tanton replied.

“Oh, we'll fix that eventually,” Celeste said. “Sure, stoic and deadly has a certain allure, but chatty is just more fun.”

“Blessed Traveler, what is that?” Kana gasped.

We were approaching the given coordinates. No “farm” was visible yet, but that isn't what had caused the reaction. A large half-dome shape rose from the landscape, it's presence seeming to disrupt the atmosphere around it as lightning could clearly be seen arcing against the surface of it, but nowhere else in the area. Something seemed to be glowing inside the curve of the thing as well, giving more light than the electricity sparking around it.

Elgan materialized without warning near my head and drifted forward, letting out a soft whisper, “That's a shard of the Traveler.”

“You sure about that?” I asked the Ghost.

“Of course I'm sure,” he retorted. “You've been in the City and seen the underside. The Traveler was badly damaged around the time of the collapse. This is a piece of its shell.”

“You catch that?” I asked the others. They all replied an affirmative.

“I wonder if we could get to it,” Celeste added, a note of awe in her voice.

“Perhaps,” I said. “But first, we need to find the coordinates from the message.”

It didn't take us much longer. The Farm was practically in the shadow of the shard. I was mildly surprised to find that the Farm was actually a farm. I'd expected it to be some sort of code. We could see several people, Guardians and non-Guardians alike, milling about. All looked up on our approach. Near what looked like an honest-to-goodness sports field, I could see someone waving some landing lights. We banked in close, then transmatted down onto the field.

“I'm getting a signal on where to dock the ship,” Elgan said in my ear. “Give me a second.”

Once our feet touched the ground, several people came over in our direction. Some were hoping to see familiar faces or lost loved ones and turned away disappointed. Others were just there to welcome other survivors, and there were plenty of calls of, “Welcome, Guardian!”

We shook offered hands, accepted enthusiastic embraces, and made our way toward what appeared to be the central hub. I could see a set up for mail and storage, which was a welcome sight. The fact that Tess Everis had already managed to set up shop somehow just made me shake my head. I could see Tyra Karn as well. Why was she here? Had the Red Legion hit the home of the Iron Lords?

“Hey there, Guardians,” an unfamiliar voice called out, and I turned my gaze skyward. A woman I didn't know in a poncho was standing on a platform extending from the side of the large wooden structure. She motioned for us to join her. “Come on up.”

I glanced to the others. Tanton shrugged. Seeing no stairwell on the outside, I entered the building to find a way up. Once I'd passed through the door, I was pleasantly surprised to find Lord Shaxx standing inside.

“Claney?” Shaxx called out. “Good to see another Titan survived the Red Legion. And your team as well.”

“Most of us,” I replied. “Baruch didn't make it.”

“Shame. He showed promise. We've lost too many good Guardians to this Ghaul,” venom dripped from his voice at that name. “We will end the Red Legion. We will reclaim our home. And when we do, I will glory in turning his command ship into a Crucible arena.”

“I look forward to it, sir,” I said before continuing up the wooden stairs.

“Welcome to the Farm, Guardians,” the woman greeted us as we emerged into the sunlight. “Name's Hawthorne. Nice to see a few more of you straggling in, we can always use a few more hands around the place.”

I got my first good look at her. Dark hair peaked from beneath the hood of the poncho and she had a circular pattern of dots painted or tattooed onto her face. Her clothing looked worn and stained, like someone who had spent plenty of time out in the wilds. On our approach, a large hawk or falcon landed behind her, cocking its head to look us over.

“Thanks. I'm Claney. These,” I indicated the others, “are Celeste, Kana, and Tanton.”

“Where are you coming in from?”

“Mars by way of the Tower.”

“You picked up our signal at the Tower?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Great,” Hawthorne seemed to relax a little at the news. “That means the signal boosters Aasim connected for us are working. That should lead plenty of refugees to us.”

“Aasim?” I asked. “Aasim-7? Exo Hunter, green shell?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Nothing. Just should have figured he'd survive and be in the middle of things again,” I said with a chuckle.

“He's done more than survive,” she replied, her voice losing some of its friendliness. “He's done a lot for us, though now that he has his Light back, he seems to be in a hurry to run off and get himself killed.”

“Wait,” Celeste interjected, stepping forward. “He got his Light back? How?”

“How should I know that?” Hawthorne asked rhetorically. “I don't have any first hand experience with that sort of thing, if you hadn't noticed. The only thing I know is that it had something to do with that.”

At the end of the statement, Hawthorne hiked her thumb up and pointed over her shoulder toward the shard of the Traveler. Clearly, we weren't the only ones who had been curious about it. If Aasim regained his Light from visiting it, perhaps it would be worth looking at closer. I watched jagged streaks of lightning play across its surface for a moment before refocusing on the woman in the poncho. 

“Personally, I wouldn't recommend crawling through the woods near that thing. It has a well earned reputation. However-” she stopped mid-sentence, focusing on an incoming transmission only she could hear. “What? No, I need you to... Just wait, I'll be right there.” 

She turned her attention back to us. “Speak of the devil. I have to go. Feel free to make yourselves useful. Hopefully a lot more people will be following that signal and we need to be ready.”

“Sure. Thanks again,” I said as she hurried past us. We turned and headed back down the stairs.

Two steps down, Tanton asked, “Who is Aasim-7?”

“I'm sure you've heard of the slayer of Crota and Oryx? The Guardian who successfully raided the Vault of Glass and killed the leader of the Devil Splicers?”

“Hivebane, Young Wolf, and a host of other names that have been bandied about,” Celeste added.

“Ah,” the Hunter nodded.

“And now, seemingly the only Guardian with Light.”

I just shook my head. It figures that if any one Guardian was going to be spared, it would be Aasim. I had sarcastically used the term “Super-Guardian” when rumors began circulating that one Guardian had accomplished so many major feats over the last several years. Then it had turned out to be true, and from a Guardian who had barely been revived before beginning this string of achievements. It seemed as if he did have some special connection to the Light and the Traveler that the rest of us just lacked somehow. That wasn't a particularly pleasant thought, that I may be missing something important.

I turned my eyes again to the piece of the Traveler in the distance, wondering if anyone else had attempted to travel to it in hopes of regaining their Light as well. If one Guardian could do it, why not more? Was Aasim really some sort of “chosen one”? The idea seemed wholly unacceptable to me at that moment. That thought was interrupted by Celeste's voice.

“Old Man? Are you listening?”

“Hmm? Sorry.”

“Where'd you go just now?”

“Sorry, Kiddo, I was lost in thought for a moment.”

“Well, we'll leave you alone to brood then,” she said, giving me an odd look. “I was just saying I wanted to poke my nose around and check things out. Split up and then meet back here in a few?”

“Sure, sounds like a plan,” I said with a nod.

She stared at me for several seconds as if trying to read my expression, then turned and walked away. The other two headed off in opposite directions, with Kana heading in the direction of the Eververse stand and Tanton heading past the building we had just been in. I decided to see what sort of accommodations had been set up.

The Farm was clearly still a work in progress. Some important things had already been put in place, but I didn't see nearly enough places set aside for the amount of people that would probably be flowing in here. Some Guardians could just stay on their ships, especially those that had larger ships like my Invictus had been. Lost Days was pretty must just a cockpit, not the best long-term solution for a place to bunk up for an extended time. 

Then there was the hygiene issue. A, hopefully, large number of Guardians might all be staying in close proximity, and we'd lost nearly everything when the Tower fell. That was going to mean a lack of clothing to change into or spare armor to swap. There were going to be some ripe smelling Guardians gathered together if something wasn't worked out. Clearly that was an issue less important than simply staying alive, but it was probably going to be coming up sooner rather than later.

During my tour of the compound, my eyes kept moving back to the shard of the Traveler in the distance. It was nearly impossible to focus on anything else. I knew the urge to go to it would continue to eat at me until I actually followed through, so I opted not to fight the compulsion. 

I held out my hand and Elgan materialized over my palm. It took longer than it usually did. He was still moving slower since the Light left us. I wondered if he would ever recover entirely.

“I've decided to go check out the Shard,” I told him. “Alone.”

“Well, that's the worst decision you've made in a while,” he replied.

“Very likely,” I nodded. “But I have to go see it, and without Light, I'm not going to let the others risk it.”

“No chance I can talk you out of this, I'm guessing?”

“Nope.”

He sighed. “That's what I thought. What's the plan?”

“Go over there,” I said, pointing to the Shard. “That's about the gist of it.”

Elgan rolled his optic.

“I'm going to cut across the soccer field, hop that fence, and walk into the woods. We'll have to leave the Lost Days behind. Launching it would be too noticeable, and the others would be able to track it. We'll hike our way to the piece of the Traveler, watching for any dangers along the way. Better?”

“Not exactly, though a step better than just, 'Go over there,'” the Ghost said. “And what shall I do if the others try to reach out to us? Because you know they will.”

“We'll burn that bridge when we get there,” I said, glancing around to see if the others were in sight. “Time to go.”

Elgan dematerialized and I set off. I stayed close to the buildings, casting glances to see if I could spot any of my team. Once I got to the bridge leading to the soccer field, I dropped down into the creek, using the raised banks to keep me out of view. Once clear, I climbed out and made my way to the tree line. I thought I'd managed to slip away when my thoughts were once again interrupted by the voice of Celeste.

“Going somewhere?”

She stepped out from behind a tree in front of me, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. Her helmet was on, so I could not see her face, but everything about her posture said that she was angry. So much for slipping away unseen.

“Did you say something?” I asked Elgan when the Ghost appeared again.

Celeste answered before he could, “No, he didn't say anything. I knew something was going on with you, and really there was only one thing it could have been.” She jabbed an accusatory finger in the direction of the Shard. “Were you really just going to go without us? Without me? And then what? You die alone without your Light and we are just left wondering where you went? Or what happens if you manage to get your Light back? Would you even have come back for us then, of would you just go gallivanting off on your own to try to save the world?”

“I would have come back-” I began, but she cut me off.

“I'm not finished. You do this stuff all the time. When we were going after that Archon years ago. The Moon. On the Reef looking for Zillah. Dealing with that crazy, Siva-fueled Hunter. You always try to leave everyone behind and do it yourself, and I'm sick of it.”

She stepped forward then and thrust both hands forward quickly, her palms striking my chest. The move caught me off guard and I staggered back. My foot caught a fallen branch and I tripped. I hit the ground hard. Before I could recover, Celeste darted in with a closed fist and punched the side of my helmet.

I rolled away from her and scrambled to my feet. She was in on me quickly, swinging again. I was barely able to get an arm up this time and deflect the blow. I managed to catch her forearm the next time she tried to hit me, and caught her other arm as well. She struggled to pull free, but I held tight.

“Celeste, stop it,” I said through gritted teeth.

“No!” she shouted, swinging her leg to try to kick me.

I pivoted to dodge the kick, then swung her around so that her back was to me and I had her arms pinned across her body. I ducked my head so that it was at shoulder level and she couldn't rear back to headbutt me. I pushed my right elbow in, taking her off balance, so now she was leaned back against my shoulder.

“Let me go!” she shouted again, trying to wriggle free.

“No,” I said, “not until you calm down and stop attacking me.”

“Not until you stop running off and being stupid,” was the retort.

“Can't do that, Kiddo.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can't lose anyone else,” I replied. “It's why I didn't bother with a fireteam for so long. After most of my first team died, it was too difficult. If I can do this, if I can take this on myself, and keep the rest of you safe in the process, then I'm going to do it.”

“You're going to lose us anyway,” she said, struggling less against my hold. “You're going to push us all away, and we're going to leave.”

“Better you hate me and be alive than follow me happily into something and die.”

Sensing some of the fight leaving her, I let her go, giving her a nudge to regain her balance and stepping back. We stood facing each other then, neither willing to give an inch.

“And if you die? How am I supposed to deal with that, you big idiot?” she asked. “'You've got me, and I've got you.' I said that to you just yesterday. If there's no you, then what do I have?”

I had no response.

“You know what?” she said finally, throwing up her hands. “You go. Go see the Shard. See what happens. Maybe we'll still be here when you get back.”

“Celeste!” I called to her as she turned to walk away.

She paused, half looking over her shoulder. “What?”

“Get the others. We'll go together.”

She stood still, then nodded and started jogging back to the Farm. I sat and waited for the rest of the team. While waiting, I stared at the Shard, wondering what exactly we would find when we arrived.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 

“If I'd have known bashing you in the face would make you not do stupid things, I would have tried it a long time ago.”

I turned my head to look at Elgan as he spoke, watching the pieces of his shell rotate. It was still slower than it used to be, and sections of the shell still looked as if they were drooping downward.

“Just pulled back and crashed right into your nose. Like a puppy when it pees on the floor.”

“And I would have just, what? Sat back and let it happen?” I asked.

“I can be quick when I want. You wouldn't even see it coming.”

“Wasn't I supposed to drown you in a puddle of Cabal drool?” I asked and waved him off. 

The punch had had very little to do with my changing my mind, and I'm sure the Ghost knew that. He was just chattering to pass the time, as he often did. Actually, it sometimes felt like I didn't have to talk at all, as much as he liked to carry on.

As they had since we'd arrived in the EDZ, my eyes turned once again to the shard of the Traveler. It seemed baffling that a piece of the Traveler itself had sat here for all these years and no one had come across it before. It had to have been here since the Collapse, nothing else had hit the Traveler hard enough to knock a piece loose since then. How had it gone undiscovered? Maybe someone had and it had just been kept secret for some reason, but that felt equally as unlikely. 

More questions. Blessed Traveler, there were entirely too many of those these days. Hopefully some answers were coming

Not knowing how long it would take Celeste to round the other two up, and not drive myself mad mentally chasing after currently unanswerable questions, I tried to focus on other things. Sitting here staring at the shard dominating the countryside vaguely reminded me of a pre-Golden Age song that Elgan had found on an old computer he'd scanned years ago. 

There's a stone along a winding road looking over a valley below, green and growing beyond all my control. It's how I know, I know I'm close. I'm almost home.

Leaning back against the tree, I started singing softly to myself, “I hold tightly to the time before I stepped outside. Off to see the world, leaving the one I knew behind. Now I find I pray the home behind waits up ahead to wrap it's arms around me once again...”

That chorus struck a nerve and I couldn't find it in me to continue. Closing my eyes, I lowered my head, thinking about loss and things left behind. Someone clearing their throat brought me back to the moment.

“That was nice. I thought Celeste was lying when she said you could sing.”

Kana, Tanton, and Celeste stood to my left. It was Kana who had spoken.

“Yeah, well, just assume from here on out that I'm good at everything. It will save you a lot of wrong thinking,” I replied.

Tanton shook his head at the comment and Kana let out a small chuckle before reaching out a hand, which I took hold of to pull myself up. Celeste just crossed her arms over her chest and made a point of not looking at me. It was clear that it was going to take more than just agreeing to not do this stupid thing alone to get back in her good graces.

“Celeste said you wanted to see us,” Kana said once I got to my feet.

I glanced over at Celeste, expecting that she would have filled them in. Guess she left it to me. I suppose that was for the best, especially given her attitude toward the situation.

“I intend to go to the shard of the Traveler,” I said. “I don't know what we will find along the way or once we get there, but Hawthorne seemed to think it is dangerous. I also know that it gave another Guardian's Light back. I have no reason to imagine it would do the same for me or anyone else, otherwise there would be a stream of Guardians on their way there to get a refill. All I know is that I have to go see it. I hadn't intended to take anyone else with me, as this was my budding obsession that I needed to deal with. However, I was reminded with prejudice that that sort of decision affects more than just me. Which brings us to the present. 

“I am going. No one else has to; feel free to stay here at the Farm. Rest, recharge, help them prepare for the other refugees who will hopefully show up. They'll need everyone they can get doing the work. I'd be back soon to pitch in as well. If you want to come though, I would welcome the company.”

“Are you kidding?” Kana asked. “The chance to get that close to a piece of the Traveler? Count me in.”

Tanton nodded, “I'm in.”

“Well then,” I said, turning to Elgan, “I suppose there's no reason to walk the whole way now. If you can avoid the urge to ram yourself into my face, could you get the ship?”

“I could easily do both,” the Ghost muttered as he disappeared.

“Ram into your face?” Kana asked.

“Just a conversation we were having earlier. He's picking up bad ideas from other people.” I cast a glance at Celeste, but there was no visible reaction.

In a matter of moments, four ships appeared overhead. After transmatting on board, we set a course in the direction of the shard. Flying, what would have taken hours only took a few minutes. I let Elgan control the ship while I watched the trees pass beneath us. There is a small part of me that had been actually looking forward to traveling through those woods. Perhaps another time once this is all over with.

Before long, the transmat is taking hold of me again, and I materialize standing on an old roadway, the others popping into existence almost simultaneously, our ships turning toward orbit. There are a few rusted, ruined vehicles on the road, though not as many as similar sites in the Cosmodrome usually held. Behind us, a landslide had deposited boulders and rubble across the roadway. The pavement was buckled and cracked, grass and shrubbery growing in some of the gaps. 

The roadway led toward a wall that gave me a moment of homesickness. At the base of the wall was a toll or guard station of some sort. Just behind that small building, the road itself was blocked by a sheet of metal, either a gate that had been closed for some reason or a portion of the wall that had collapsed over the centuries. Whichever it originally was, it was just a ruin now with greenery beginning to take root. There was no obvious way past.

“You couldn't have dropped us in a little closer?” I asked Elgan as he appeared beside me.

“No,” he said, twisting in consternation, “there was some sort of interference.”

“Fair enough,” I said, then addressed the others. “Okay, let's find a way through.”

We approached the collapsed opening and fanned out. After a short search, Tanton found a gap that looked large enough for us to fit through single file. This must have been how Aasim-7 got past. The Hunters slipped through easily enough, though Kana and I found it to be a tighter fit. I ducked and twisted, wriggling my way through the gap, slipping past the remains of some cars that were inside the wall for some reason. Beyond that, it opened up a little, giving me some breathing room for a few steps. I ducked under a metal bar, and was through the wall.

The forest on this side of the wall took on a twisted, evil look. Branches growing from a large tree ahead of us were twisted and spiky and a gray pallor hung over the area, with thick fog obscuring our view past the trees. There were more cars on this side of the wall as well, most of them facing the way we had come. The road itself was damaged and buckled even more than it had been on the other side, and lead into a dark tunnel. 

“All in favor of not going down into the murder hole,” Kana muttered, raising a hand above her head.

“Going into holes in the ground has rarely turned out well in my experience,” I replied. “Being able to follow what is left of the road does offer a certain level of convenience, though.”

“I vote over,” Tanton said.

“Alright, over it is.”

There was a gap in the road where it had once crossed a lowered section of the terrain. We jumped across, stopping short of the tunnel leading down into the earth. Inside was more evidence of neglect and collapse. The tunnel was littered with rubble, and walls that were probably smoothly cut at one point were now broken and roots pushed through in various places. We stepped off the path and scrambled up the hillside. 

The fog on top was thick and the forest grew wild, limiting visibility. Combined with the continuing silence, it had a very eerie feel.

“Murder hole not looking so bad right now,” Celeste muttered as we started forward. It was the first thing I had heard her say since she left to get the others.

“So,” Kana spoke up, pushing a branch out of her way, “backing up a little bit here. Can we talk about Claney singing?”

“Do we have to?” I asked.

“Yes. Why haven't we heard it until now?”

“I'd prefer not to get into it.”

“Come on,” she pressed. “We've got a long hike ahead of us with nothing else to pass the time. Besides, I thought we got past the whole, 'leader of the team keeping secrets' thing before this mission started.”

I winced a little at that, remembering the day before we had set out and the anger and mistrust that the team had expressed. Remembering Baruch, who had been the maddest that evening and first to make a peace offering the next morning, and was now gone. Maybe it was time to let them in a little.

“It isn't an easy story to tell,” I said, “and not something I like to open up about, just keep that in mind.”

“Singing is something I enjoy. I'm guessing I must have done it in some capacity back in my old life, though, of course, I can't remember. Sen, a member of my first fireteam, would often tease me about it. She said I was better at singing than fighting. I used to do it quite a bit back when I was a younger Guardian, but... things change.

“I'm far from the oldest Guardian, but I have been around a while. My introduction to this new life was The Battle of Six Fronts. Newly resurrected and not even assigned to a fireteam yet, I was thrown into one of the largest battles the City has seen. A veteran Titan named Donvan told me to stick with him, and I did. Probably the only reason I survived.

“After the fighting was over, I ended up joining his team, Fireteam Beircheart. It was the two of us, Sen, who was a Warlock, another Titan named Caelan-5, and two Hunters, Sarai and Kado. We became a pretty tight knit group.”

I paused here. As we continued into the woods, the light had begun to dim even though we had not been traveling long enough for the sun to be setting. Something was blocking the sunlight somehow. Feeling ill at ease, I drew my weapon. The others did the same.

“During Six Fronts, I got a pretty good look at the Iron Lords. Lady Skorri left quite an impression on me with her songs. I tried my hand once or twice at writing songs about the team like she did for the Lords, but, well, we'll just say it wasn't part of my skill set. Even so, the others would often ask me to sing on the way to missions and every time we were at the Blustery Brew.

“It was... it was fun. I was nervous to get up in front of other people at first, but grew to enjoy it. It made people happy, which, in its own way, was almost as rewarding as helping refugees reach the City. In a world of constant war and death, a little happiness was a wonderful thing.

“This went on for years, until Eriana-3 and her obsession and then The Battle of Burning Lake turned everyone's eyes to The Hive and The Moon. Our team was, of course, part of the assault against the forces of Crota. The Great Disaster brought an end to everything.”

I paused again, silently debating how much detail to reveal. That seemed enough, but I had already gone this far...

“We were being overrun by Hive. I was injured, and Donvan turned to help me. He didn't even see the Knight that struck him down. Sen and Sarai were also killed there on The Moon. Kado... shortly after we arrived back at the Tower, Kado shot his Ghost and then himself. He and Sarai were a couple, and he couldn't bring himself to accept the idea of an unending life without her. Caelan and I were the only survivors of the team, but it was too difficult to stick together after that. Too many memories.

“Singing carried the same weight. Doing it was so inextricably linked to being with the team that I couldn't bring myself to do it anymore. At least, not where anyone could hear, I could only manage when I was by myself in quiet moments, like you overheard.

“I didn't sing to another person until I found Celeste. She was a little old for lullabies, but so lost and scared at first that it seemed like the right thing to do. It didn't last long, but I guess it made an impression.

“So that's why I stopped singing, and why I've avoided fireteams until now. I suppose I never fully came back from Mare Imbrium.”

There was more I could say. Details about the team and our time together. Now, wasn't the time, however. I'd said more than enough for them to get the point.

“You've never even told me all of that,” Celeste said quietly. She'd moved up to my left. “I knew you lost your old team, but you never really talked about your time with them or how they all died.

“Like I said, it isn't something I like to talk about.”

“So why now?”

“Trust,” I replied. “Needing to be both earned and regained.”

“Regained? It's not you I don't trust, Old Man,” she said, “just your judgment sometimes.”

“I didn't realize the two were separate.”

“Well, now you know. And I know something more as well. I understand-”

Celeste stopped in mid-sentence as ahead of us, Tanton came to a halt and started looking around.

“Something up?” I asked.

“Don't know,” he replied. “Been getting weird flickers on the radar.”

“Nothing on mine, and I don't hear anything,” Kana said.

“Me either,” Celeste added.

“Everyone be on alert, just in case,” I said.

We started forward again, but only made a few steps before Tanton called out, “Wait!”

The radar on my HUD suddenly showed motion all around us. I couldn't see anything, but became aware of a strange scrabbling sound. All around, mounds of dirt appeared and erupted, holes opening up in the earth. Cloaked, hooded, humanoid figures burst forth, leaping at us with some sort of spear or pole-arm that sparked with Arc energy. Behind them was a more familiar sight. Dregs.

“Fallen!” I shouted, raising my gun and opening fire. I dropped one of the spear wielding ones, a puff of ether escaping as a bullet struck its head. “Close in, watch your backs! Remember, resurrection isn't an option.”

We tightened our formation firing at the alien scavengers. A Fallen lunged at me with its spear, the blade sparking as it came. I managed to dodge the thrust, grabbed the spear, and pulled, dragging the surprised alien toward me. I kicked the attacker hard, then shot it as it staggered backward. A bolt from a shock pistol hit me from a different direction, knocking down the shields on my armor. I moved and fired back blindly.

Tanton won a brief knife fight with a Dreg to my left, stabbing it in the head before drawing a sidearm and taking down another. Kana dodged a spear thrust, but was caught flush with the side of the blade as the Fallen swung it back in. She let out a cry as the Arc blade sparked against her ribs. Celeste killed the attacker, then the two of them combined to finish off another scavenger.

Luckily, their numbers were small. A larger ambush might have been our undoing. As it was, the firefight was over in a matter of moments.

“I've never seen Fallen using weapons like this,” Celeste remarked, kicking one of the pole weapons. I held out my hand, and Elgan emerged. He scanned the weapon and the Fallen that had been holding it.

“These marking do not match any known Fallen house. These ones with the spears are docked like the Dregs, so they are another lower cast. Strange, though, that none of them are wearing docking caps.”

“Since when do the Fallen come bursting out of the ground like bugs?” Kana asked, looking into one of the holes the enemy forces had emerged from.

“I've never seen that either,” Celeste replied.

“Just before we had left the Tower,” I said, “there were reports of the Fallen retreating. Burned banners and weapons, empty strongholds. I wonder if some came this way, or if this is just a group we hadn't seen that have been living here in the EDZ. They've always been obsessed with the Traveler, it would make sense that we would find them near a piece of it.”

“So we're going to run into more of these guys,” Celeste grumbled. “Great. Spooky forest, no Light, limited resources, and now creepy Fallen guys that like to pop out of the ground. You always take us to the most wonderful places, Old Man.”

“You're the one that insisted on coming, Kiddo,” I reminded her.

“If there are more, I'd prefer not to just be standing around when they show up,” Tanton said.

“Right. Onward and upward.”

Those were the only living Fallen we encountered on the way to the Shard. There were bodies and other signs of combat, however. Whether it was Aasim or some other Guardian that had come through before us, I had no idea. There were enough materials and supplies lying around that I didn't imagine that the Fallen would abandon the area for long.

We followed the trail to our destination. The closer we drew, the darker the air seemed to grow. The vegetation thinned out some, but the fog grew more dense. Some of it might have been smoke from burning pieces of equipment that we passed.

“I think we're getting really close,” Kana whispered, pointing ahead.

Numerous rocks were floating in the air in the direction we were heading, ranging from about as bit as a fist to nearly human size. They didn't rotate or bob in the air, rather just floated as if locked in place.

“That's something you don't see every day,” Celeste muttered. She walked up to a smaller rock and gave it a shove. It drifted in the direction she had pushed it, then settled to a stop a few meters from its original location.

On edge, we pushed forward. As we entered the clearing, all of our Ghosts emerged. Standing here at the base of the Shard, I felt a sense of awe. This was the closest I had ever physically been to a piece of the Traveler. It dominated my field of view, blocking out the sun and casting a shadow that left the area in twilight.

The side of it was covered with a large scorch mark where it had taken damage years before. Some of the inner workings of the Traveler were exposed. Energy pulsed and crackled along the surface, coming from inside the fragment. I approached it with slow, measured steps, taking in the view.

In the clearing was more evidence of Fallen occupation, including equipment and banners. They had set up shop here with the intention of staying. Yet another reason to believe that they would not be abandoning this area for long. We would be well advised to not stick around here for an extended period of time.

I turned back to the fragment. Elgan was scanning it, his shell twitching with excitement. I stepped closer, reaching out with my right hand. A mix of excitement and nervousness battled within me as I got closer. I paused with my hand hovering centimeters from the surface. I could feel the Light buried deep within Shard. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and made contact, placing my palm flat against it.

Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and tried it again. Still nothing. I yanked the glove off my hand and tried my bare hand. Still no response. No inflow of Light. No feeling of power. No response. The battle between nervousness and excitement was replaced with a war of disbelief and anger. Anger won in quick fashion.

All the years, all the battles, all the pain loss and regret. All for nothing. I felt my jaws clench and my hand curled into a fist. I pounded my hand against the Shard, then pulled back and punched it hard. I struck the surface again and again, feeling bones break but not stopping. I finally ceased when I noticed that I was leaving streaks of blood behind. Turning my back on the Shard, I stalked away, vaguely aware of the others staring at me.

I dropped to the ground, feeling defeated. Elgan drifted over and I held out my hand without looking at it. With an uncharacteristic quiet, the Ghost healed the damage, then settled in my palm. I couldn't bring myself to look at him or any of the others. After a bit, the rage subsided and I took in a shuddering breath.

There had been no guarantee that this would have been a fruitful venture. I had even told the others that before we made our way here. Only one Guardian had gotten his Light back. It seemed all the talk of Aasim being some sort of “Chose One” was correct after all. The Traveler didn't need the rest of us. 

“I could have told you that wouldn't work,” a voice called out from above.

I turned my eyes to the sound and saw a human figure step out of the fog and shadows above the Fallen camp. It was a woman in Warlock robes and gear that I did not recognize. The Warlock took a couple more steps and then jumped down to where we were. She stopped before reaching up and unfastening her helm and sliding it off, revealing the shimmering blue face of an Awoken.

“Hey, Claney. It's been a while,” said Zillah Arvid with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Claney thinks about/sings is "Moonstone" by Stavesacre.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 

I stared at the Warlock, not sure how to respond to her sudden appearance or greeting. The luminescence of her skin shone faintly in the dim light, but was nothing compared to her eyes. The two golden orbs shone brightly, staring down at me. For the third time recently, different emotions warred for supremacy, and it was too much. Celeste seemed to have no similar conflict.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a challenging tone.

“Celeste. So nice to see you too,” Zillah replied.

The Warlock stepped forward and held out her hand in an offer of assistance. I took it, leveraging myself up off the ground. In normal humans, our size difference would have made that difficult for her, but it wasn't only Titans who had received an enhancement of strength from the Traveler's blessings.

“Who's that?” Kana whispered not quite as quietly as she seemed to think.

Tanton shrugged in response.

“The reason you're here,” Celeste answered.

“Huh. I can't remember my mom, but I'm pretty sure she didn't look like that,” the Exo replied.

“No, I mean the team. Awoken woman that put the idea of forming a team in Claney's head.”

“Ohh,” Kana replied. “Her.”

“Yeah. Her.”

“Hello, Zillah,” I said finally. “Yes, it has been a while.”

Celeste stepped in closer to Zillah and spoke again, “You didn't answer the question. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I needed your permission to seek out the Traveler.”

“Not exactly what I meant, and you know it.”

“Celeste,” I hissed, causing the Hunter to turn away. I turned my focus back to the Warlock. “It is a question that bears asking. Last we knew, you left with Efrideet.”

Zillah nodded. “I did, and I stayed there until the Light was ripped from me. I can tell you more about it once we're in a safer place.”

“Safe sounds like a good idea,” Kana said. “We've probably stood around here too long as it is.”

“Agreed,” Tanton spoke up. “We still have to hike to clear the transmat interference.”

“I believe I can help with that. It's something in the Fallen tech, here. They were working to make it harder for anyone else to try to claim their prize,” Zillah said with a gesture toward the Shard.

“Elgan?”

“On it,” the Ghost said.

He flitted away from me, opening up to scan the nearby equipment. I saw other Ghosts emerge and do the same, searching through every pile of junk and cobbled-together equipment the Fallen had lying around. After a few seconds, I heard an electronic trill of triumph.

“That should do it,” Elgan announced.

“Get us out of here, then.”

“Gladly,” he replied just before I felt the transmat grab me.

Once aboard ship, Elgan plotted a course back to the Farm. I waited for confirmation from everyone else in the group before setting off. Thankfully, it was a short flight back. Almost before I knew it, I found myself back on the ground, standing on a low rise facing what could pass for the central courtyard of the refugee camp. The shadows of the buildings stretched long over the grounds as the sun began to set. The others were all taking shape near me. Zillah took a step forward, her head turning to take in the sights.

“Welcome to the Farm,” I said.

“Gotta love the rustic charm,” Kana added.

“Between the Reef and the Belt, I'm used to being around people scraping by to survive,” Zillah said.

The five of us began to walk forward, with no clear destination in mind. Several civilians walked past us, arguing over something on an invoice. Further up ahead, I could see several people playing soccer on the field we had dropped in the first time. That people could relax enough to do something like that in the face of all that had happened seemed to speak highly of their resiliency.

“Claney, can we talk alone for a bit?” Zillah asked.

“Sure,” I replied, then turned to the others. “See if Hawthorne is back yet. If not, find someone else who seems to know what is going on and find out where we can help. The Traveler may not need us, but these people do.”

Tanton nodded, and he and Kana headed toward the large barn where we had seen Hawthorne before. Celeste lingered.

“Go on, Kiddo,” I said. “We'll be along shortly.”

She hesitated, then turned to follow the other two. I watched her go, noticing as she kept glancing back toward us before disappearing into the open door.

“She still doesn't like me much,” Zillah said, watching Celeste walk away. “I thought things had thawed a bit after the SIVA business.”

“Well, that was before you left.”

We walked until we reached the worn pathway and turned left. Following the curve of the short hill, we walked toward the dock. Refugees were huddled in clumps over here as well, digging through supplies, helping set up equipment, or discussing plans.

“Why should my leaving bother her?”

“That's complicated.”

We passed a large fire pit reminiscent of the ones built at the Iron Temple. Someone was crouched low next to it, trying to light it before night fell. After several tries, the fire caught.

“Oh.” Zillah said, realization blossoming on her face. “It bothered her because it bothered you.”

“So not that complicated,” I replied, which brought a little laugh from the Warlock.

“I do feel like I owe you an apology for my abrupt departure,” the Awoken woman said, “but at the same time, going there was absolutely the best choice for me.”

We reached the dock, and I looked out over the lake. Sunlight glinted off the small waves. Across the way, I could see other small clusters of buildings as well. It seemed that people had been trying to make a home here well before the Red Legion scattered everyone from the Tower and City. It seemed quite the risk, purposefully staying away from the protection of the Guardians.

“You don't have to explain yourself to me,” I told her.

“But I want to,” she said. “When we met, I was a little broken. Maybe more than a little. I... well, you know about my attempts to fit in with the Reef-born, my attempts to find the Queen. I told you about my struggles with the Light. I was lost and desperate for a place to fit in. I thought maybe it would be with Efrideet and her group.”

“You could have ha-” I started, but she stopped me.

“Please. Let me finish. I thought maybe I could find a place where I belonged. Instead, I found something better. Equilibrium. Balance between the two warring ideas inside of me. Getting so far away from everything helped me see it all more clearly. I was finally finding some peace. Then this Red Legion tore that away from me.”

While she spoke, Zillah had walked down the wooden dock. She reached the end and sat, letting her feet dangle just above the surface of the water. I followed after her, taking a seat beside her. My added height meant that the water was just able to splash against my feet. My armor would keep any moisture out, and the water wouldn't affect it at all.

“Did they attack the outpost?” I asked.

“No. Everyone there had sworn themselves to non-violence. Nothing they had or did attracted the Cabal's attention as they pushed into the system. We tried to send messages in toward the planets to warn the Vanguard, but it seems the Legion was too efficient in disrupting the communication satellites. Once we lost our Light, everyone realized something had gone horribly wrong, and many of us set out to investigate.

“The first place I headed for was the Tower. When I saw it in ruins, with the Cabal overrunning the Last City, I realized that I didn't belong with Efrideet and her people. Living a life of non-violence sounds nice, but we are not in a universe that will allow that luxury right now.”

I nodded and asked, “Does that mean you are still searching for a place where you fit?”

“No,” she said with a strange little smile. “I don't need to find a place where I think I fit anymore, because I am content within myself. That need for someone else to accept me is gone.”

“I see.”

“Which brings me to you,” she said. “You looked more than a little lost and broken when I found you near that fragment of the Traveler.”

I hesitated before replying, flexing the fingers of my right hand. When I replied, I was staring at the water, not looking at her. “Not my finest moment, I'll admit. I've had my doubts about myself and my ability to lead my team. Being ignored by the Traveler just seemed to drive some of those home.”

“You went and formed a fireteam after all?” There was a note of surprise in her voice.

“Yeah. You saw us there at the Shard,” I said, bringing my hand up to point back toward the barn over my shoulder with my thumb.

“Oh. I thought maybe the four you had just banded together for survival.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We're a team. What's left of it, at any rate. One member, a Titan named Baruch, died right when we lost our Light and Scott-20 was back at the Tower when the Red Legion attacked. I have no idea if he made it out or not.”

“I'm sorry for the loss of your teammate,” she said, “but I wouldn't give up on Scott just yet. A number of Guardians managed to get out. It's possible he did as well.”

“Yes, I know. I guess we'll see,” I replied.

An uncomfortable silence settled in. I felt like I had things that I wanted to say, but couldn't find the words. Instead, I turned my head to look further along the surface of the water. At one point, a fish broke the surface, the ripples of its landing spreading over the waves.

“I am glad you weren't at the Tower when the Cabal attacked. When I saw what happened there, I was worried...” She trailed off, not completing the thought.

Turning my head partially back toward her, I noticed that she was looking away from me, staring along the surface of the water in the opposite direction. I could tell that was not an easy admission for her to make.

“I was worried about you out at the colony as well,” I said.

She turned her face toward me, and our eyes met. I looked away quickly, clearing my throat.

“So, how was it that you happened to be at the piece of the Traveler at the same time as us?” I asked, shifting in my seat a bit.

“I had been watching it for a little while,” she answered. “I'd heard about it, and made my way there. Nothing happened for me, either. I wanted to observe and see if others made their way to the Shard, but couldn't stay too close because of the Fallen, so I had position myself a ways back and had my Ghost monitoring the site. I saw a couple other Guardians try it before you, with no success either. It seems the re-gifting of the Light was a one-time event.”

“Well, at least it wasn't just me. Guess that means I shouldn't take it personally.” I glanced back away from the lake, looking in the direction of the barn. “I should probably go check on the others, see if they found anything to do.”

“I'll go with you,” she said.

We both stood and made our way to the central area of the Farm. I didn't see any of the others outside, so I stepped into the barn. Inside, a couple ships were propped up, sparks from a welding torch flashing toward the back. I saw Kana carrying something in that direction, disappear for a second, then come back out with empty hands. I noticed the others standing in a back corner and approached, reaching them about the same time that Kana did. I could feel Celeste staring at us hard, her arms crossed over her chest.

“So,” I began, “it occurs to me that we didn't have a chance for proper introductions before. Kana-4, Tanton Holter, this is Zillah Arvid. Celeste and I have worked with her in the past. Zillah, this is fireteam Painted Truth.”

“A pleasure,” Zillah said, giving the slightest of bows.

Tanton nodded, while Kana offered a cheery, “Hi!”

Celeste left without a work, stalking out of the barn.

“She'll come around,” I said. “It doesn't help that she was already mad at me.”

“You tried to go to the Shard alone, didn't you?”

I just turned away, following Celeste out of the barn, which brought a laugh from the Warlock who followed me in turn.

“I'm starting to get the impression he does that sort of thing a lot. Does he do that sort of thing a lot?” Kana asked, walking along side Zillah.

“Let me tell you about the time that he transmatted me out of the middle of a fight against my will,” the Warlock replied.

“Really?”

I let their conversation fall into background noise, focusing instead on Celeste. She was well a head of us, moving quickly. I motioned for the others to wait, then broke into a jog to catch up to her.

“Talk to me, Kiddo.”

“Nothing to talk about,” she said, not looking at me.

“Celeste.”

“What?” She snapped, whirling to face me, her voice a harsh whisper. “What do you want me to say? Am I supposed to just act like we are the best of pals and I'm ecstatic to see her again? Because I'm not.”

“I understand that.”

“Do you? She and I never got along, but I tolerated her before because we were working together and because of you. Try to hide or deny it all you want, but I know there was something happening between the two of you and it hurt you when she left. Now she shows up out of the blue and... What?”

“I don't know,” I shrugged. “What I do know is that we're all in a rough place right now, and we need each other to survive. I'm not going to turn anyone away who is in the same position.”

“I don't like her.”

“I know.”

“Okay then.”

A commotion from the direction of the soccer field drew my attention. A man was running up the dirt path, waving his arms over his head and yelling. Those playing had stopped, turning to face the newcomer. On the bridge over the creek, the guards were standing, gripping their weapons. As the person drew nearer, we could make out what he was shouting.

“Help us! Someone, please, help us!”

I took off running in his direction, and felt my team fall in behind me. A crowd was beginning to move that way as well, mostly Guardians. Sprinting, I hopped over the creek, not bothering to try to make my way to the bridge, which was getting congested. As I drew near, I got a better look at him. His clothes were torn in a few places, cuts and scrapes on his limbs and face.

“There was a large group of us making our way from the City,” he said, gasping for breath. “We picked up the transmissions about the Farm and started to make our way here. We slipped past the Cabal, but ran into a Fallen patrol. I ran to get help, I don't know how many are left. Please!”

Refugees in trouble. Once, many years before, I had spent much of my time helping others get to the City, saving refugees from the Fallen. Light or no Light, once Pilgrim Guard, always Pilgrim Guard it seemed. “Painted Truth! On me! We have some refugees to save.”


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 

The man collapsed, exhausted. As Celeste and Tanton gently helped him to his feet, my sparrow and helmet materialized almost simultaneously. Around me, I could see other sparrows springing to life, Guardians preparing to rush into danger despite their lack of Light.

“I'm going to have my Ghost put a helmet on you so we can talk,” I told the man, and he nodded. “Elgan!”

One of my other helmets phased into existence around the man. “Whoa,” he said between heavy breathes as the HUD flicked to life.

“Get on a sparrow,” I told him. “We need you to come with us to show the way.”

“Okay,” he replied after the briefest hesitation and staggered to climb onto the back of the nearest sparrow, which happened to be Kana's. She turned her head toward me with a confused tilt, and I shrugged and waved for her to just go with it.

“Which way?” I asked, and he pointed. Kana started her machine, and everyone else followed. The man riding behind her grabbed tightly around her waist as sparrow leaped forward. I made sure the channel was open to everyone before continuing the conversation. “You said you ran into a patrol. What happened?”

“We were evacuating from the City on a transport ship,” he said. “We were flying aimlessly, searching for possible sanctuary, until we picked up a transmission about the Farm. Once we did, we started heading this direction. Unfortunately, the ship must have taken some damage in our escape, because it gave out on us and we he had to put down before we made it.

“We continued on foot, trying to make it here. Through caution and good luck, we made it most of the way before running into the Fallen. I don't think they were looking for us, we sort of stumbled into each other. At least, they looked about as surprised as we did. Or, maybe not quite as surprise, since they started shooting first.”

If the Fallen hadn't been aware of refugees passing through the area, that was a good sign. It meant they weren't aware of the migration to the Farm yet. The key would be making sure this group didn't report back so that we kept them in the dark. The last thing we needed now was a full on assault without a wall to offer some protection.

An unknown voice chimed in and asked, “Was your group all civilians?”

“No,” the man said, shaking his head against Kana's back. “Most were, but there were a few Guardians who had gotten on board for protection. It was one of the Guardians that told me to run here.”

“Hopefully they've managed to hold out,” Celeste added.

The path was not very wide, so we had to fall into a column to travel. I lost sight of the other members of my squad as they mixed in with the other Guardians who had answered the call. I wasn't overly concerned about them at the moment. We could always regroup once we reached our destination.

What exactly would happen once we got there was a different story. When racing into a group of enemies like this, I tended to prefer a full on charge, leaping off my sparrow at the last minute and letting it plow into whoever I was charging at. It was a pretty effective distraction, and let me get into the thick of things. Without Lift to ease my landing, or a revive if I mistimed anything, that seemed like a bad plan. Hoping for enough space to maneuver around and fire from the sparrows seemed unlikely. Coming to a complete stop and then stepping off the vehicle seemed to just leave us open to the enemy to get the first shots in, though.

An image came to mind then. I was seeing through the eyes young child on a seat suspended by two chains. Swing, came the word. The child slowed just enough to make a running dismount as the swing arched down and forward. Was this a memory? Regardless, it made the answer seem obvious now.

“Elgan, when we get there, we'll decelerate on approach. I want you to transmat the sparrow out from underneath me, and I'm going to try to hit the ground running.”

“You realize you're probably just going to fall down and then get shot, right?” he asked.

“Well, if that happens, feel free to laugh at me about it later,” I told him.

“I can't do that if you're dead.”

“Good point. I'll try not to get dead.”

Sparrows cut travel time by an enormous amount, but it still felt like it took us some time to get there. It was an impressive distance for him to have run, at least a half marathon. He must have pushed himself hard to get to us, knowing every second had to count.

By the time we reached our goal, the path had widened a bit, enough for us to have thickened our lines to four deep, but, as expected, not enough to use the sparrows for mobility in the conflict. We passed several bodies, both our kind and Fallen, before getting to the main conflict. The refugees had either been driven back by the Fallen, or deliberately chosen to fall back. Perhaps to move them away from the Farm? I was a little surprised they hadn't completely broken and run, given the large percentage of civilians involved.

There was little in the way of defined battle lines, but that was to be expected. Fallen moved through the trees along the trail, popping out to attack the besieged humans, Exos, and Awoken, who in turn were trying to use the trees and natural terrain to find cover and return fire. 

One alien, one of the new ones with the spears, caught sight of our approach and squawked out a warning. As they turned to face our approach, a cheer went up from the refugees. Time to give them something to cheer about.

I slowed my sparrow. “Now,” I said to Elgan, and the machine disappeared from between my legs. Adjusting from seated to a run was tricky, but I managed to do it without falling on my face. Drawing the auto rifle I had obtained at the Farm, I opened fire. Around me, the other Guardians dismounted in various ways and joined the attack. Someone was yelling an inarticulate war-cry, which was picked up by others.

The Guardian to my left took a bullet and went down. It was the only loss we suffered in the short skirmish. Caught between us and their original foes, the Fallen had been cut down quickly. One Dreg tried to turn and run at the end, but Tanton shot him before he could escape.

“We've got injured!” someone called from the group we had just rescued. Several of our Guardians rushed forward, seeking to help anyone that they could. The rest of us milled about, checking bodies or scanning the area to make sure there were no enemy combatants that we had missed.

Looking around, the loss of life bit deeply. These had been civilians, unarmed, not prepared for a fight, fleeing one horror only to run into yet another. My fists clinched and released helplessly over and over again. Powerless.

“Claney?”

My head snapped up at the sound of my name. It hadn't been anyone from the fireteam, and sounded more like they were questioning what they were seeing as opposed to calling to me specifically. A woman in damaged Titan armor was looking in my direction. When she saw me respond to the name, she reached up and detached her helmet, revealing pale skin, blue eyes, short dark hair, and giving me a strange sense of deja vu.

Dallyce Lua. The two of us had teamed for an evening of Crimson Doubles then dinner in the City months ago. A date set up by Celeste and Astrid, with an assist from Cayde-6. She gave me a crooked smile, then stepped in and gave me a hug that caught me off guard.

“Man, is it good to see a familiar face. Or, helmet, as it were,” she said, stepping back and then rapping her knuckles against my faceplate. “And another Titan at that. How did you get out?”

“I wasn't in the Tower when the Cabal hit,” I told her. “My fireteam and I were on a mission on Mars, of all places.”

“And you made it back here?” Her eyebrows arched upward. “I'll be that's a story.”

“No better than yours, I'm sure,” I said, gesturing toward the group she had been with.

“No story there,” she replied, a bitter note in her voice. “We got our tails handed to us by the blasted Cabal and ran. Ran while our brothers and sisters died around us.”

I placed my hand on her shoulder, “Someone had to help the refugees. You did what you had to.”

“You weren't there,” she shook her head and twisted so that my hand fell away. “Blessed Traveler, be thankful you weren't there. We had no idea they were coming and then they hit us so hard. I could hear frantic calls from all over. The Vanguard trying to rally the troops. Ikora saying that the Speaker was gone. And then that cage closed around the Traveler and our Light was ripped away...” She paused, catching her breath. “They were slaughtering us then. Lightless Guardians, in that moment of weakness before we could recover, just started mowing people down. 

“Once we recovered, we fought back, but it was a losing effort then. Without the Light, we couldn't hold them back. Zavala had ordered the civilians evacuated when the attack began, but after that it was a full-scale retreat. The Stoneborn were still trying to hold the Wall as we left, though, they refused to leave.”

I took off my helmet then, not wanting the next words to be hidden behind the faceplate. “I'm sorry. We lost one of our fireteam at that same moment as well. You can't beat yourself up over what you couldn't do, though. Those people,” I pointed again to the refugees, “need us. They need you. We'll find a way to retake the City and repay the Cabal for every wound they've inflicted on us, don't you worry about that.”

“Still so earnest. Good to know not everything has changed,” she said, the ghost of her previous smile crossing her face again. “Have you made it to this Farm?”

“Yes, briefly. We were there for a little bit before leaving to check on something, then had barely gotten back when your runner found us.”

“Does it seem like it is going to hold up?”

“Maybe,” I said. “It isn't the City. There's no Wall for protection, but the people there seem resourceful, and it looks like they have been building up a little community for some time now. It's definitely a good start.”

She nodded, then her voice dropped in volume as she asked, “Have you heard Zavala's rally call?”

"No," I shook my head. "I hadn't heard about any rally. When we saw the City, we picked up the transmission to abandon the planet."

"It came through shortly before we landed, on a channel that had been static. Something must have helped it push through."

I remembered lines of static that had cleared up before that had led us to the Farm. Whoever was boosting signals must have kept at it. "What did it say?"

"Titan," she said. "He called for 'any Light in the system' to rally at Titan."

"Why Titan?" I wondered aloud.

“There are Golden Age facilities there. I haven't heard of anyone finding anything of particular value, but maybe he knows something he hasn't shared?”

“I wouldn't put it past the Vanguard or Consensus to keep secrets,” I admitted, “but if they knew of something that could turn the tide of a battle like this, I can't imagine they wouldn't have used it before now.”

“Are you and your team going to try to go?”

I shook my head. “No. I'm going to stay here and try to help the people finding their way to the Farm. Like I said, they need us.”

“Zavala might need you just as much,” she said

“Somehow I doubt that very much,” I said, feeling the sting of the Traveler's rejection again.

Movement caught my eye and I turned away from her to see Celeste, Tanton, Kana, and Zillah approach. They each removed their helmets as they stepped up, likely because we both had ours off. Celeste's eyes darted back and forth between the two of us, a look of mild amusement on her face. Tanton and Kana wore expressions of polite curiosity. Zillah's look was unreadable. I made quick introductions.

“Dallyce, you know Celeste. That's Tanton and Kana, the other two members of our fireteam, and this is... a friend, Zillah. Team, Dallyce.”

“It's great to see you again,” Celeste said, laying it on a little thick. She gave the Titan a hug and then winked at me.

“Are we going to just keep running into Guardians you know today?” Kana asked.

“If we're lucky,” I replied. “Because that means more made it out. But it is getting late, so I doubt it.”

“Most of the wounded seem to have been stabilized,” Tanton said. “What should we do next?”

“We should only call one or two ships, get the wounded and the dead out of here,” I said. “Not too many, or we might draw unwanted attention. We should probably do something about all these Fallen as well. If anymore come stumbling through here, we don't want them on high alert.”

He nodded, and we all put our helmets back on and got to work along with the other Guardians who had made the trip. Several of us dragged Fallen bodies away form the trail, leaving them in amongst the trees so they would be less visible. Others made sure our dead were lifted with care and transmatted to a ship that was flown in, along with the injured and the oldest and youngest refugees, those who the travel might be difficult for. The rest would have to walk.

Between those of us that responded to the cry for help and the Guardians that had been on the ship, we were able to surround the civilians fairly well for the trek back. We had to go slower than I would have liked to accommodate some people not used to the effort, which made me uncomfortable. It would be late when we made it back, and, if there were still Fallen around, they always had an advantage in the dark, but I didn't see another option.

Celeste opened a private channel to me. “I have to say, I like this unexpected guest better than the last one.”

“Celeste...” I said in warning.

“I know, I know, 'Be nice.' All I'm saying is, feel free to invite her to tag along if you want.”

“Noted.”

“Aside from a possible improvement in the quality of stray Guardians, finding this group does give me some hope,” she said.

“Oh?”

“Well, if ships full of people were able to slip past the Cabal, it increases the likelihood that Astrid could have been able to slip by as well.”

I nodded. “I'd almost guarantee it.”

“She'll be happy to see we ran into Dallyce again, too. Trying to set you up on a date was mostly Astrid's idea.”

“I remember,” I grumbled.

“Oh, don't be grumpy about it, Old Man,” she laughed. “The kid just cares about you.”

“I know,” I said.

Night had fallen and fully taken hold by the time we reached the Farm. A small cheer rose up from the group of refugees when we cleared the treeline and they caught their first good look at it. I didn't relax until we had passed the security checkpoint and made it into the center of the compound. Once I let my guard down, everything we'd been through over the course of the day hit me like a ton of bricks and I felt a deep weariness settle on me.

We'd never taken a moment to try to find a place to settle down here, and any available beds were going to be needed by the crowd we had just lead to safety. Thankfully, I had the Lost Days to use as temporary quarters. I gathered the team to me. 

“It has been a very long day, Painted Truth,” I said. “There are people here who can help the refugees get settled. Right now, I want each of you to get some rest, but those people will need any available beds. Retire to your ships for now, we can work on other arrangements in the coming days.”

They each nodded in turn, with Kana, Tanton, and Celeste transmatting shortly thereafter. Zillah and Dallyce had joined us when I pulled the fireteam, and lingered.

“You aren't part of the team,” I told them, “so I suppose you don't have to listen to me if you don't want to. Still, some rest might be a good idea.”

“I know, on both counts,” Zillah replied with, her look turning pensive.

“Something you needed to talk about?” I asked.

“I...” she began, then stopped, casting a glance to the side. “No. Goodnight, Claney.”

She disappeared in the shimmer of a transmat. I stood, looking where she had been standing.

“Friend, you said?” Dallyce asked, a mysterious smile on her lips.

“Yeah. We... we worked together in the past, but she'd been gone for a while before we just ran into her.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said, then echoed Zillah, “Goodnight, Claney.”

I watched her walk away, then let myself be taken by transmat well. Once aboard ship, I stripped off my armor, leaving the under-suit. I had intended to crash on my bunk, but found myself drawn to the pilot seat. I sat and leaned to the side, elbow on the arm of the chair, chin resting against my hand.

I stared out at the stars until I eventually drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a bit of a delay in getting around to writing this update. A.) I had an idea for a Tales update, as well as a story suggestion that had been sitting around not being followed up on I decided to write. B.) I transferred all of A Not so Simple Patrol, Tales We'll Tell, and this story over to Archive of Our Own. To do that, I went through and re-read everything, fixing some typos and story bits that needed adjusting. That took some time to do.
> 
> Hopefully the opening here didn't feel like a let down, not really getting into the combat, but I really didn't want to spend a lot of time on the shooty-shooty right now. Honestly, part of me even regretted ended the last chapter the way I did and didn't want to have an action scene here at all. Of course, that was weeks after posting it in in the first place. A little late to have second thoughts once it's out in the wild.
> 
> Dallyce originally appeared in chapter 15 of Tales We'll Tell titled, appropriately enough, “The Date”. But I'm sure you already knew that, as that collection of shorts gets many more readers than this story does.
> 
> This is the part of the story I have trouble with, this middle section. I had the opening planned out and got to moments I'd been thinking of before I started writing, and I have an ending that has several moments I am looking forward to writing. Taking the time to actually get there is going to be a test of will.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Favorite, follow, and comment!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 

I woke, stiff from the awkward position I had slumped into in the seat during the night. A groan escaped me as I shifted, stretching. I was glad Celeste didn't hear that. She calls me an old man enough already as it is.

I smiled, thinking about the monicker she had saddled me with years ago. There are many Guardians that have been around longer than me, but that didn't seem to matter. I was the old man. Of course, I had referred to her as “kiddo” first, so she would claim I started the whole thing.

The thing is, for the first time ever, I felt old as I sat there. I don't know if it was the loss of Light, seeing the destruction of our home, realizing the scope of the loss of life that had occurred, or a combination of all of it, but there was a weariness in my bones that I could only think of in that term. Old.

I was determined not to wallow in the feeling.

I transmatted from the ship into the main courtyard of the Farm. All around, I could see other people beginning their day. Some were setting about their business, moving supplies, setting things up. Some were just looking around, taking in the sights. I assumed they must have been from the most recent group of refugees. Tess, of course, was in her tent and ready for business. From somewhere, the smell of food was drifting on the breeze. 

I followed the smell, and saw a chow line set up. People were gathering, carrying on conversations while they waited for food. I looked like eggs and meat. Maybe ham and bacon. My stomach growled at the sights and smells, but I couldn't bring myself to take food from people who needed it more. I had enough ration bars to last me a while.

“Elgan, get me something for breakfast, please,” I croaked out the first words I'd spoken for the day.

“No 'good morning' or 'hello' first?” the Ghost huffed.

I rolled my eyes, “Good morning, Elgan. Now get me something to eat.”

“Your wish is my command,” he snarked, and a ration appeared at my feet.

“Someone seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the backpack,” I muttered, stooping to pick it up.

“Sorry, I'm just feeling...”

“Worn?” I suggested.

“Yes,” he said with an electronic sigh.

“I know the feeling.”

Eating the bland nutritional supplement, I made my way to another table near the buffet. Taking a cup, I helped myself to some coffee. I might be willing to make some sacrifices for the greater good, but I could only go so far. As the warm liquid worked its way through my system, the first member of my team made their presence known.

“Morning,” Kana-4's synthetic voice sounded from behind.

I turned to face her, “Good morning.”

“Mmm, that smells good,” she said, glancing at the breakfast set up.

“Yes it does,” I agreed.

“But we're not going to eat it, are we?”

“Nope.”

“Figures.”

“You don't even have to eat,” I reminded her.

“I know,” she pouted. “I still like to.”

I nodded. “Let's move away before the temptation becomes too strong.”

Emerging back into the courtyard, I noticed a number of Guardians moving toward the soccer field. I assumed at first that they were just looking for some early morning amusement, until I glanced in that direction and saw a good sized crowd had gathered. Something other than a game was going on.

“You have any idea what is going on?” I asked Kana.

“Nope,” the Exo said, shaking her head.

“Elgan, had anyone tried to call us?” I asked.

“No,” he replied, materializing near my head. “We have had no communications from anyone since yesterday.”

“Della?” Kana questioned her companion.

“Nothing,” her Ghost replied.

Strange. 

Curious, I followed the others that were heading in that direction. Kana fell in behind me again. As we walked, I noticed Dallyce and Zillah in the crowd, which was another surprise. Lord Shaxx had even made his way down there and was standing near the back of the gathering, his arms crossed over his chest. Celeste and Tanton were nowhere to be seen. Something told me that I needed to change that.

“Elgan, call Celeste and Tanton. Tell them to get out here ASAP.”

I was trying to figure out what could have drawn everyone out here, and then I remembered Dallyce telling me about Zavala last night. There were probably plenty of other Guardians who had started to pick up that signal last night, or had others tell them about it. That was the only news I was aware of big enough to draw this crowd down here. Got it in one.

“... should go,” I heard a Titan I didn't know saying. “Zavala called for us; he is our commander. If he's trying to find a way to fight back against the Cabal and retake the City, then we have to go.”

As we reached the crowd, Zillah seemed to notice movement and turned to look in our direction. We made eye contact, and she began to ease her way through the crowd toward me. The Titan finished speaking and another voice rose up. This time I didn't see the source.

“But he said, 'If there is any Light.' I don't know if you noticed or not, but none of us have any Light left. What exactly are we going to do?”

“We can still fight,” a third voice shouted. “Should we just let the Cabal take everything from us and do nothing?”

“Welcome to the party,” Zillah muttered as she reached my side, her eyes never leaving the crowd. “Your girlfriend's news seems to have riled up quite a hornets nest.”

“First, it was one date. Second, if they picked the message up on their ship, others could have heard it as well. Third, I don't think assigning blame is a worthwhile use of our time right now.”

The Warlock made a non-committal noise as a response.

“Why was it only one date?” Kana asked to my left, catching me off guard.

“What?”

“Why was it only one date?” she repeated, then nodded in Dallyce's direction. “She's pretty. You could do worse.”

“Now is really not the time.”

“Later then,” she replied, then changed the subject. “I think I'm going to look at things from a different angle.”

Kana moved away, circling the gathering, and I swear I saw the ghost of a smile in Zillah's amber eyes. I pursed my lips and tried to turn my focus back to the issue at hand. What had once sounded like a debate was devolving to a shouting match where it was nearly impossible to understand whatever point anyone might have been trying to make. Eventually, a voice roared over the tumult.

“Enough!”

Instant silence fell, and every eye turned to the sound of the voice. Lord Shaxx was standing tall, his arms now down at his side. He stepped forward, the crowd parting to allow him passage to the center. He took his time getting there, every step measured and deliberate. The Crucible handler's head turned subtly as he scanned the crowd, likely taking in and recording every face and helmet there. He probably knew each and every one of them as well after watching them all compete over the years in his training battles. Shaxx reached the center of the circle and paused for several seconds before speaking, staring down the assembled mob.

“Guardians! Look at you! Squabbling like children while everyone else watches.” He jabbed a finger back toward the barn. I followed the direction it lead and caught sight of Hawthorne on her perch by the large barn, staring toward us. "What do you hope to gain by barking at each other like dogs?

“A decision needs to be made, yes, but it is a decision each person must make for themselves. Before you do, think. You are Guardians! Guardians of what? A wall, stone piled upon stone? A City? A people?

“We were the Guardians of the Last Safe City. We will be again one day. But it was not streets and buildings we stood for. It was humanity. A people on the verge of extinction. The people here at the Farm.

“Zavala has called for a rally on Titan. If you want to go, do so. Rally. Make plans. Prepare to strike back at the Cabal. I, for one, will stay here and guard these people. If you do stay, do not think you are abandoning the cause either. Zavala cannot launch his strike from Titan, the tactics are not sound. He'll have to come closer, and he will need a base of operations here. I will be standing ready then.

“Choose, Guardians. But show some dignity in the process.”

Shaxx held his ground in the center a few moments after speaking before turning and stalking back toward the barn. Once he left, the conversations about what to do resumed, but at a much quieter level. Looking around, I saw Celeste and Tanton attempting to make their way over to where Zillah and I stood.

“Well, I'm glad I made it in time for the big speech,” Celeste said when she reached us. “Seems we missed quite the commotion before-hand, though.”

“You could say that,” I replied. I nodded a greeting to Tanton, and he returned the gesture.

“Titan, huh?” Celeste asked. “He just pick it for the name, or...?”

“No. There are several Golden Age facilities rusting away there on the methane oceans,” I said. “He must think he can find something there that would be useful.”

“Seems a slim chance to pin all our hopes on,” Zillah stated.

“Unless he knows something we don't.”

“So, I guess the question is, what are we going to do?” Celeste asked.

“We need to talk about that,” I said, looking past her. I caught sight of Kana circling around and waved her over to us. “And I suppose there's no time like the present.”

When Kana arrived, I motioned for the team to follow me away from the crowd. We left the soccer field, and Zillah came with us. Rather than move back toward the main grounds of the Farm, I walked along the small creek wound its way through the property and into the trees.

“Where are we going, Old Man?” Celeste asked.

“Nowhere in particular.” I stopped walking and looked around. “I just wanted to get away from the crowd, and we seem to keep having to make big decisions while surrounded by trees lately, so...” I gestured to our surroundings. “Plus, it's just nice out here. Helps me think.”

“Might be a little Hunter in you after all,” Tanton replied.

“You say that like it's a good thing,” Zillah muttered under her breath.

“Oh, it absolutely is,” Celeste chimed in. 

I just shook my head. “Now is not the time for that. We have more important things to discuss.”

“Roger, roger,” Celeste replied, giving a mock salute. “What are you thinking?”

“I already know my decision, but I want to hear what each of you has to say first,” I told her. “I don't want my voice to color your opinions.”

“Okay,” she said. “You heard old One Horn. We're Guardians of the people. Besides,” she gestured to the trees, mirroring my movements from a few moments before, “why would I give up all this for some run down facility on a deadly sea?”

“Kana? Tanton?”

“Stay,” was Tanton's one-word reply. Kana seemed less certain.

“Zavala called for us to go. He's the Vanguard commander. How do we say no?”

I nodded. “I can understand. The pull of duty is strong.”

“So what do I do?”

“What you think is best. Celeste and Tanton intend to stay here. I plan to stay here, help these people. You can stay with the team, I could even order it if that would make you more comfortable, or you can follow what you feel are orders that supersede those and go to Titan. No one here would hold it against you. You'd even be welcome back to the fireteam with open arms when we move to retake the Tower.”

“You're so certain that will happen?”

“Without a doubt,” I answered. “The City, the Tower, the Traveler, no way the Vanguard gives it all up to the Cabal.”

Kana turned her yellow optics upward as if searching the sky for a sign. Eventually, she looked back to us. “Stay,” she said.

I smiled and then reached over, patting her shoulder. “Thanks for not making me order you.”

“If they court-martial Guardians who ignored Zavala, I'll tell them you did.”

“I'll just claim I never heard the call. Which I didn't. First hand, anyway.” I turned to the last person standing with us. “Guess that leaves you. You don't have the order option, sorry.”

“Not that I would listen to you if you tried,” Zillah said.

“Fair enough. Are you going back to Efrideet's colony?”

“No.” The Warlock turned, taking a few steps away, stopping with her back still turned to us. “I once talked about staying by your side. I... I didn't follow through on that. Mostly because I was angry with you. I'd like to stay here and make good on those earlier intentions, work and fight by your side, with your team.”

“Okay,” I said, and she turned to look back in our direction. “You can tag along.”

“Tag... tag along? Tag along?”

I turned and winked at Celeste who was barely suppressing a grin. “Let's head back to the Farm. If we're going to stick around here, we might as well make ourselves useful.”

We followed the creek back to the main grounds of the Farm. Overhead, several Guardian ships could be seen heading to orbit. I shook my head as I watched them go. I had hoped that Lord Shaxx would have won over the majority of the crowd, but it didn't look that way.

Glancing at the barn, I could see Hawthorne watching the ships go as well. There was no way to tell what she was thinking from here, though I doubted it was anything good. Between making our way to the Shard of the Traveler and then rescuing the group of refugees from the Fallen, we had barely spent any time at the Farm yet, so I was unaware of any structure or who else I could get information from other than the poncho-clad woman. I decided to go to her to find out where we could get involved.

And maybe she would appreciate the news that at least some of us were staying.

I broke away from the team and headed inside, taking the stairs up to her perch. She didn't turn at the sound of footsteps, but continued to watch the sky. I waited a few moments, then cleared my throat.

“I know you're there, Guardian. No need to for that,” Hawthorne said without turning.

“Right. Well, hard to tell with the whole 'keeping your back to me' thing going on here.”

“I'll tell you like I told the others, you don't need to announce your intentions to leave. Just go. We got by here just fine without you fancy pants Guardians taking up space, we'll get along just fine when you go.”

“And if I was going to say that I had a team that wasn't going anywhere?”

That got her to turn. She looked at me skeptically.

“Oh, really? Not in a hurry to rush off, join your Zavala, and retake your dead City?” she asked. “Because it seems like the rest of them can't get out of here fast enough.”

I turned my head to watch as another ship chose that moment to make its exit and shook my head. “Not now. If there is an action to attack and retake the City, I can't say that obligation won't pull me to it. But for now? My days of being Don Quixote are done.”

“Not quite sure I get the end there, but you're welcome to stay so long as you make yourself useful.”

“We wouldn't have it any other way,” I said. “Just tell us what you need us to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and changed one thing in chapter 12. When Claney ran into Dallyce, he mentioned that Zavala had gone to Titan. Sometime after posting that, I realized Claney wouldn't know that yet. All he knew at that point was that Zavala had gone off-world. Oops. Small tweak fixed it.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 

I followed Suraya Hawthorne down from her walkway, through and around the rusted out barn, and into the surrounding area. The others trailed behind me, having fallen in when I motioned for them as Suraya and I descended from her perch. While we walked, Hawthorne kept up a running commentary of all the things that needed fixing, additions, or that were flat-out missing all together. The list was staggering. Elgan hovered over my shoulder, recording and scanning everything as we passed.

“Our biggest project right now,” she said, “is trying to find a place for all these refugees to stay. We don't know how long anyone will be here, so for now we are trying to put up some barracks to house large numbers until something more final is decided. We've been essentially throwing up the buildings like an old-fashioned barn raising.”

To punctuate that last statement, we came across just such a construction. The wooden frames of three walls were up, with the final wall was being hoisted up by several people using ropes and pulleys. The interior of the wall was carried over, already assembled, by several others. We watched for a few moments before continuing on.

We saw defensive emplacements being readied. Examined storage buildings where the Farm's previous supplies were kept, and now new crates were being brought in and sorted. Suraya showed us several people working on making field weave and weapons that could be handed out for protection. We glimpsed the room where Suraya and others went over the logistics of trying to take care of everyone flooding into the area. One thing that drew the biggest response was the infirmary, overflowing with people injured escaping the Last City on top of those from the Farm hurt in construction accidents or other daily occurrences.

“So there you have it,” Hawthorne said with an expansive gesture as we circled back to the main courtyard. “As you can see, we are being completely overwhelmed here. This was a small community, living outside the wall and scraping by. We are all glad to make sacrifices and help people fleeing the City, but we were never really prepared for these kinds of numbers. We need all the help you Guardians can give us in getting it together.”

“We will do what we can,” I told her.

“Good,” she replied. “Maybe tell some of your other friends to do something other than dance or play football while you're at it.”

She hitched her thumb toward the field where everyone had gathered earlier. With the crowd dispersed, some of those who had either decided to stay or hadn't made up their minds yet were already starting to kick around a ball. I had to admit that it wasn't a great look. At least the flow of ships had begun to slow.

“Who do we check in with for assignments?” Kana-4 asked.

Hawthorne, who had already turned and begun to walk away from us, waved off the question. “You're big boys and girls, I'll let you figure that out.”

“She doesn't like us very much, does she?” Celeste asked, somewhat rhetorically.

“No, no I don't think she does,” I replied. “Let's try to change her mind.”

“What do you suggest?” she asked me.

“We've seen what they need,” I said. “I think we can each figure out where we would be the most useful. I do have a few suggestions though. Elgan?”

“Yes?” my Ghost asked, drifting into view.

“I know you aren't at full power and have some limitations, but do you think that you and the other Ghosts could help some in the infirmary? Maybe help some of the non-Guardians heal up from their injuries?”

“I don't know,” he replied, his shell twisting. “I've never tried healing a non-Guardian before. I don't know if it would work without the Light being involved at all.”

“Give it a shot,” I told him. “Don't make a big deal of it beforehand, in case it doesn't work. Find someone with a minor injury and see what happens. If it works, network with the other Ghosts, see about setting up a rotation in the infirmary. That would go a long way to helping out here; they could get people back up faster and save a lot of medical supplies.”

“I'll look into it,” he said, giving a bobbing nod before flitting away.

“Celeste and Tanton?”

“Yes?” the Hunters replied together.

“Food shortages will probably be a big problem,” I said. “We've been staying on rations so far, and I believe other Guardians have done the same. Eventually those will run out. You heard Suraya, this place wasn't meant to sustain this many people. Whatever food sources they have hear on the Farm, they are going to be stressed to the breaking point. We need to relieve that stress.”

“What are you suggesting, Old Man?”

“I'm suggesting... live up to your names. You're Hunters. Hunt.”

“Hunt what exactly?” she asked. “Dead zone, remember?”

“Yes, I heard the name, but I find it hard to believe that there is nothing alive out there. We need to see if there is anything we can bring in to add to the food stores.”

The two looked at each other and shrugged before turning to leave.

“That leaves you two,” I said, turning my attention to Kana and Zillah.

“I think I'd like to help them with the storage,” Kana replied before I could continue. “They had a lot of things to move and get into place. I think I could could help out a lot here.”

“Fair enough,” I said with a nod. “Head on over and see if they need you.”

She nodded back and strode off. That left Zillah. I turned to the Awoken woman who looked like she was studying me.

“When we first worked together, you seemed to struggle every time you had to be the one making decisions,” she said after a moment. “It seems like you've gotten a little more comfortable doing that since I've been gone.”

“Eh,” I said, “I don't know about that. It's at least half 'fake it 'til you make it,' really.”

“Well, you fake it well, then.” She said with a small smile.

“Thanks. Some of it is necessity as well, I guess. I never really set out to take a leadership role before. I've had to in some ways since the Siva crisis, so I suppose it's a little molding by circumstances.”

“Isn't most change and growth?”

“True,” I said.

“What are you planning on doing here?” she asked.

“I figured I would go help with construction,” I replied. “If we could get a few Guardians helping there, specifically some of the Titan, we could speed up the manual labor by a large margin.”

Zillah nodded.

“You?” I asked.

“What, no grand idea or thought of how I could best help out?” she questioned, one eye brow quirked upward.

“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “I figured I'd follow Hawthorne's lead on that one and let you figure it out.”

She smiled that same little smile again. It was something I hadn't seen a lot from her in the past. It hit me suddenly that it was something I liked seeing.

“Defenses,” she said, which actually surprised me a bit. “There were a few things I picked up out at the pacifist colony, little things they did that helped them escape the notice of hostiles that I think could be adapted here, help them keep under the Cabal's gaze a bit.”

I nodded, “That sounds like it could be helpful, especially with no Wall to shelter behind here.”

“Glad to receive your approval,” she said with a smirk. “See you around. Have fun picking up heavy stuff.”

“I always do,” I said and she started to move. Before she could, I interjected. “Zillah?”

“Yes?”

“Last night. It seemed like you had something you wanted to say to me before you went to your ship.”

“Oh,” she replied, her amber eyes turning downward. “No. It was nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she said, her eyes still not meeting mine. “I'll see you later, Claney.”

She turned and stepped away. I watched her go, confused by the sudden change of mood. A scene began replaying itself unbidden in my mind. Zillah turning and walking away from me on Felwinter's Peak, telling me she was sorry, and then leaving me behind. I shook the thought away, and made my way along the path we took with Suraya to get back to where we had seen people building the barracks.

A large number of people were working on the barracks when I arrived. Men and women were hammering pieces of wood into place. Several of them were crawling over the skeleton of the building, attaching pieces to the top of the structure. I saw three men struggling to carry over a piece of the interior frame of one of the walls and jogged over to them, taking hold of a piece of lumber.

“I've got it,” I told the men, then lifted, the wood slipping off of their hands. The blinked in surprise at first, then looked relieved to have the burden lifted. I wondered how long and hard they'd been working trying to build up shelter for strangers. “Where do you want this?”

“Right in the middle of the east wall,” one of the men replied, pointing. He and the others trailed after me as I followed his directions. I set the wood in place, and they set about securing it in place.

“Thanks, Guardian,” another man said, wiping his brow.

“You're welcome.”

“That's most of the heavy lifting on this building,” he continued. “It's mostly small stuff now. You can stay if you want, but they're getting ready to put some walls up on a new one over that way, though,” he pointed further down the path. “They could probably use some extra muscle if you want to go lend a hand.”

“Thanks. I'll go check it out.” I nodded to the man and hurried down the trail.

I found the next spot quickly. Several people were pulling on ropes to raise up the first wall of the building. I hustled over again, bracing myself against the frame and pushed, getting it raised in place. I received another thanks and held the wall in place while it was secured.

“If you can stick around and keep doing that, I think this will go quite a bit faster,” one of the workers said, offering his hand.

I took the offered hand and shook it. “That's why I came down here.”

“Great, Guardian.”

“It's Claney,” I said.

“Welcome, Claney, I'm Jack. I'm in charge of this particular project. If you're serious, we'll put you to work.”

“Looking forward to it,” I said, then spotted a section of wood on the ground that looked similar to the piece I helped place in the other wall. I made my way over to it and picked it up. “This goes in the middle, I presume?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “We would normally put it in later, but it you want to lug it over there now, we'll get it attached.”

I do so, and several people get it locked in place. “Why don't you just build the entire frame before you hoist it up?”

“The weight, man,” someone replied. “Sure, the ropes and pulleys help, but we can still get it up a lot easier if we leave out the extra bits of wood and then put them in later.”

In hindsight, it seemed a pretty obvious answer.

“Well, as long as I'm here, you might as well get it all together and save the steps. I bet I could get the whole side lifted, and you could focus on other parts of it.”

Jack gave me a skeptical look. “You sure about that?”

“Try me out and we'll see,” I replied.

“You heard the man,” he said. “Get it put together and let's see what this Guardian can do.”

Once the section of wall was together and we had moved it in place, I positioned myself near the top and bent down, taking hold of the wood. I pulled upward, struggling for just a second as I realized that the completed wall was heavier than I had expected it to be. Adjusting my grip, I raised it as high as I could, then began walking the beams, hand over hand, angling the wall upward. Once it was vertical, it nearly toppled over and I had to grab it quickly to steady it. Once it was steady in place, I held it tight to keep it upright as the other workers locked it in place.

“Not bad, Guardian, not bad,” Jack said, slapping my back without a thought, then wincing a little as his hand smacked the armor. “Let's see how you do with the longer side, eh?”

I looked to see what he was talking about. In my rush to help, I hadn't really paid attention to how things were arranged. What we had put up were the ends of a rectangular building. Still lying on the ground were the sides, at least three times as long as the ends were wide.

“Sure thing, Jack.”

The lengths were rectangles, lacking the triangular top of the ends, so the final shape would have a basic, slanted roof. I picked a spot at around the center of the wall that had a long support beam and lifted, repeating the process I had done for the shorter wall. It was heavier, but nothing I couldn't handle. The wood, however, seemed to feel differently. There was too much weight at the ends for how long it was, and the whole side started to curve and creak. I thought I could lower it back down and suggest they set up the pulleys, and then I just hoist it up that way so the weight would be more evenly distributed like it normally would have, but before I could, a figure stepped up next to me.

“Mornin', Claney,” Dallyce said with a grin. “Finding ways to keep busy, are you??”

“Yeah,” I grunted out. “Hey, think you could go down there and grab the end of this thing?”

“Oh, I suppose,” she said and sauntered down, nonchalantly placing one hand on the frame. “Here?”

“Yeah.” I found a place where boards ran nearly to the other end and made my way to the opposite side, passing along the wood hand-over-hand as I had to raise it. “Now let's push it up.”

Once we got the structure where it needed to be, the others went about getting it set. I walked over to where Dallyce was standing, her blue eyes surveying the scene.

“Thanks for the assist.”

“Oh, anytime,” she said. “A big, strong man needed my help. What could I do but intervene?”

“For the record, I didn't need the help, I could have managed.”

“That's your take on the situation.”

“It's the correct take,” I said. “Needed or not, it was appreciated. Feel like helping with that one?” I asked, indicating the opposite wall.

“Ugh, men,” she said with mock disgust, rolling her eyes. “Do one thing for them and they expect you to do everything.”

“You going to get to it, or should I just get the pulleys up and have the workers get it?” Jack interrupted. “I do have a deadline to keep.”

“We've got it,” Dallyce said, striding across the way and grabbing a corner. “Claney?”

I shook my head and crossed to the opposite side. We worked together to raise the side, then stepped out of the way.

“Should I take the manual labor as a sign that you and your team are sticking around here?” Dallyce asked, watching the workers swarm over the now upright structure.

“Yeah. I thought it seemed best, and the others agreed. Suraya showed us around, and then we all set about doing what we could. You?”

She nodded. “I think so. Lord Shaxx and some other Guardian I met on the road made some good points about the people here needing us.”

“Some other Guardian, huh?”

“Yeah. Just wish I could remember his name,” she said with a smirk. “I was getting the same tour you did, though I wasn't important enough to warrant Hawthorne as my own personal tour guide like some other people. Saw you here and decided to lend a hand.”

“Speaking of which, we should probably get back to it. There's a lot that needs to get done.”

We got to it then, assisting wherever Jack said he needed us. It was clear that most of the men and women working on the building had done this sort of work together before, functioning as a well-managed team. I definitely felt like I was in the way almost as much as I was helping early on. After a couple hours though, Dallyce and I had both picked up the ebb and flow of the work to fit right in. A good chunk of that time was just helping hand up all the heavy pieces.

After a solid ten hours of work, we had managed to get the barracks up. The roof and all four walls were complete, and the inside was broken up into not fully walled off sections. Someone else would be bringing up the cots that would serve as bedding, at least temporarily, and then refugees would be able to settle in tonight.

“Thanks for all your work, Guardians,” Jack said, shaking my hand again, as well as Dallyce's.

“You can count me in for more,” I told him.

“Me too,” Dallyce agreed.

“Good, good. Be seein' ya,” Jack said with a wave, turning to yell something at a worker who apparently put some tools in the wrong place.

Dallyce and I both turned, making our way back up to the main grounds of the Farm. I spent the walk thinking about how good it had felt to see the building finished at the end of the day and wondering how things had gone for the rest of the team. Hopefully, they'd had some success in working with the people here.

Once we passed the barn and reached the main grounds, I saw Kana-4 sprawled out on the ground near the low ledge surrounding the empty water fountain. I found a clear spot near her and sat. Dallyce gave her an odd look and hopped the same low wall, making her way over to the little tent shop that Tess Everis had set up for herself. It still baffled me how quickly the Awoken woman had managed to get her little venture running again in the middle of everything. 

Kana's optics opened, and she saw me sitting near her. She pushed herself to a sitting position, drawing herself up for a moment, then slumped back down with a large sigh.

“Rough day?” I asked.

“Long day,” she said before dropping backward, laying flat on her back again. “So. Many. Boxes.”

Celeste and Tanton were the next to arrive. Tanton had a deer antler in his hand and was tossing it up, letting it flip once, and then catching it again as they walked. Celeste had a satisfied expression on her face, which turned into a large grin when she noticed Dallyce ascending the steps from the fountain area, having finished her visit with Tess.

“Hi, Dallyce,” Celeste said.

“Hey there,” the dark-haired woman replied, stepping in to give her a quick hug before sitting down near me.

“Should I take it from the trophy that you were successful?” I asked, gesturing to Tanton's antler.

“That thing? Oh, no,” Celeste said. “He found that. Must have been shed by the animal. That doesn't mean anything. We were successful, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” she grinned again. “Dead Zone must just mean no people. There's game in the forest. Not enough to sustain everyone from the City, but if we're careful we should be able to supplement the other supplies fairly well.”

“Good to hear.”

“How was construction work?” she asked.

“It went well,” I said. “Helped get a wall up on one building, and Dallyce showed up and we helped get another finished. A lot of people will have a place to lay their head tonight.”

“I had to save him from getting crushed under a wooden frame,” Dallyce added, patting me on the shoulder.

“You did no such thing,” I replied.

Just then, I noticed Zillah emerge from behind a building, looking around. I waved to her, and she made her way to where were clustered. As she approached, her eyes fell on Dallyce's hand on my shoulder, darted to my face, then looked away. An awkward tension seemed to settle over the group then.

“Well,” I said, clearing my throat and rising to my feet. “We're all here, and it sounds like we had a mostly successful first day. Nicely done, team. How about we all find something to drink and someone can offer up a toast. I'd say we earned at least that.”

There were murmurs of agreement, and Celeste, Tanton, and Dallyce began to make their way in the direction of the food line from earlier. I offered Kana a hand which she took with a groan. I pulled her to her feet, and she followed the others. Only Zillah hadn't moved.

“Everything okay?” I asked her.

“Yeah. Peachy,” she replied.

“Peachy?”

“Yes. It means everything is great.”

“I know what it means,” I said. “I have just never heard you say it is all.”

“Heard it from one of the locals today, thought I'd try it out.”

“Well, I think -” I began before she interrupted me.

“We should probably go, the others are leaving us behind.”

With that, she turned and followed the rest of the team. I stood there for a moment, feeling like I had missed something important, then set off after everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this story. I actually started it with quite a bit of enthusiasm, but it has been a struggle getting it out. I keep having to apologize for long gaps, so I'm going to stop. It doesn't sound authentic after a while. This time, the reason was a general burnout on all things Destiny, some disillusionment with the way they'd been taking some of the lore, and just playing other games. I'm also a little frustrated with it, because I am still working in the original D2 time frame, while the game has pushed forward, making me feel out of touch. If you have managed to stick with me so far, I appreciate it. I will do my best to make it worth your time and to try to be a little more regular on updates.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

 

The next several weeks saw a comfortable routine begin to set in. The team continued to help out with various jobs around the Farm, and most of the other Guardians that had stayed did the same. Many of them did so in civilian or off-duty clothing, but my team and I continued to work in our armor. It might have hurt our productivity just a bit, but I noticed a different response from the non-Guardians when they saw the armor, seemingly giving them a sense of security. The Ghosts were chipping in as well. Elgan's experiment had been a success, and every Ghost on the grounds had started rotating through the med unit.

Our presence seemed to encourage and embolden some of the refugees as well. More and more of them were getting to work, throwing themselves into building up their new, though hopefully temporary, home. There was still a haunted look in their eyes, one that I knew from experience would not go away anytime soon, but getting to work seemed to give many of them a sense of purpose that lifted their spirits. The resilience on display was impressive.

News kept filtering in from around the system about different things: the Cabal's movements, different refugee camps building up, some that were discovered and wiped out by the Cabal, and the happenings on Titan. Those last rumors were the most promising. 

It seems Aasim-7, because of course it was Aasim-7, had managed to help get equipment running on Titan and secure a foothold against the Fallen and Hive that had been harassing Zavala. That was giving the commander a chance to begin to build up a “resistance” that could strike back against the Cabal. The latest bit of scuttlebutt from that direction was that Aasim had set off to follow a signal related to Cayde-6's location.

Here on the Farm, the most interesting thing to happen hadn't even mattered all that much to most of the people calling this place home. For myself and other Titans, however, it was glorious. Ever since the Cabal took the City and trapped the Traveler, all Guardians except one had been without the Light. That left us unable to do many things we had been accustomed to. For many Titans, including, that meant defending those around us. Knowing I could not create a Ward of Dawn when needed definitely left me feeling vulnerable. Someone found a way to help with that.

An unknown Titan, though the description sounded like Caelan-5, the only other surviving member of Fireteam Beircheart, had devised an arm-mounted device that could create a temporary defensive shield in front of the user. It didn't offer as much protection as a Ward, only protecting from one direction and not being nearly as strong, but it was something. I think Shaxx might have been more excited than anyone about it, but I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy finding ways to deploy it. 

Turns out, I didn't have to wait that long to find out.

Even though the number of shelters being built was growing, I was still sleeping on the Lost Days. It just didn't feel right to take a place that could go to someone else, regardless of the fact we had nearly caught up to the numbers. I had woken and gotten dressed while onboard, then went down to meet the team in our normal morning routine. This morning, they actually all beat me there.

Dallyce had taken to joining us in the mornings, since most of her fireteam had gone to Titan. She and Zillah were positioned on opposites sides of the cluster of Tanton, Celeste, and Kana-4. Celeste was the first to spot me as I approached.

“Someone finally woke the Old Man up, huh?” she asked.

“Well, some young punks were making a bunch of racket, had to come out here to chase them off,” I replied. “You know how it is.”

“We'll get off your lawn soon enough,” she said, “but first, I have a little story to share this morning.”

“Please don't,” Tanton groaned, wincing.

“Oh, I'm going to,” Celeste replied with an impish expression. “Yesterday, Tanton and I were back in the rotation for going hunting...”

Tanton turned away with a groan and a barely audible, “She's going to tell it.”

“We set out, heading north to check on a possible game trail we spotted last time we were out. Seemed like a promising lead. After following it a ways, we've seen a few signs that something had been through, but nothing real fresh and start thinking of turning back, when Tanton says he hears something.

“At this point, the trail is curving out of sight as we have been approaching one of the rocky hills. Tanton gets the idea to scamper up the side of it to try to peak over and I decide to stay down to get a different angle if something gets flushed out.

“I'm waiting and watching as he climbs up. Suddenly, he says he's got movement. He turns to his left and something gives way. A rock slips or something, and Tanton falls, hits the ground, and rolls down the 2 meters or so he'd climbed up the side. Some rocks fall with him, kicking up a big cloud of dust.

“By the time everything settles, Tanton is laying there sprawled on his back, arms flailed out to his sides, half buried under small rocks, and... and...”

Now as she told the story, Celeste was starting to laugh a little, making it difficult for her to continue coherently. Tanton had taken a few steps from us, his head hanging low and his back firmly turned toward the group.

“And?” Kana prompted.

“And... give me a second.” Celeste stopped talking to take several breaths. “And there was a tiny brown rabbit just perched on his head. It bent over to look right into the visor of his helmet before jumping and landing on his stomach, and then it hopped away and disappeared among the rocks again.”

Kana chimed in again, “So you're saying...”

“Tanton got taken out by a rabbit!” Celeste exclaimed, then burst out in a gale of laughter.

Dallyce and Kana joined her in her laughter. Zillah just stared at them, stone-faced, and Tanton put his arms around his head, fingers laced on the back of his skull. I tried to suppress a smile as best as I could. Tanton was going to have a hard time living that one down. While this was going on, Suraya Hawthorne approached our group.

“Hey there, Guardians,” she greeted us. “What, uh, what's going on here.”

“Tantongottackledandpinnedbyalittletinyrabbit,” Celeste tried to rush out in between breaths.

“Ooookay,” Hawthorne said, turning her focus from them to me with a perplexed look.

“Mishap while hunting yesterday,” I said, waving it off. “We were just getting the embarrassing story.

“Ah,” she nodded. “We all have those.”

“This is true,” I replied.

“Got a minute?” Hawthorne asked. “I wanted to see if your team could help with something.”

“Sure thing.” I turned to the others. “I'll be right back, wait here.”

The last part seemed unnecessary, as Kana and Celeste were too busy making each other laugh by recreating Tanton's fall to go anywhere. It was nice to see Kana cutting up with Celeste again, she hadn't shown that side of her personality as much since we lost the Light.

“I don't know how I ended up being in charge around here,” Hawthorne began when we were a few steps from the group. “I certainly didn't sign up for it, but here I am just the same, meaning I get to deal with all the problems that crop up.”

I bobbed my head, but didn't speak.

“I thought I had a pretty good hammer to fix those problems when a Guardian fell into my lap, almost literally, and then ended up with his Light back. Aasim-7 helped out quite a bit before he decided to run off and try to take on the entire solar system single-handed. Doesn't mean the problems here stopped, though.

“I've got a situation, and need some experienced guns to handle it. I saw your team and know you have been doing a lot to help out around here, thought I'd see if you wanted to do me a solid.”

“What's going on?” I asked.

“One of our main scouts in the field, Devrim Kay, has been seeing some enemy movement that he needs some help looking into and possibly stopping altogether. If you're up for it, I'll let him share the details with you.”

“You can count on us,” I said.

“Great. I'll give you the coordinates and get you in touch with Dev. If you could take some time to make sure he's okay while you're there, I'd consider it a great personal favor as well.”

“Of course.”

We turned away from each other, me to the team, her to do whatever she needed to. The mocking of Tanton had stopped, and now Celeste and Kana were standing on either side of him, a hand on his back and talking to him. Dallyce looked like she was having a conversation with her Ghost, and Zillah was looking in my direction.

“What was that about,” the Warlock asked as I approached.

“Looks like we're off Farm duty today,” I answered, drawing the attention of the rest of the group. “Who's up for a little field work?”

“What sort of field work?” Celeste asked.

“The shooty-shooty kind,” I said.

“Ooh, that's the best kind!” she grinned.

“Hawthorne wants us to meet up with one of her scouts, look into some unusual activity that he's been monitoring. We're supposed to get more information on the way, and we should be getting the coordinates-” Elgan appeared then over my shoulder “-right about now, I'm guessing.”

“Yes,” the Ghost responded with a dip of his shell. “A Golden Age city called Trostland in the EDZ. Not all that far from here, actually. We'll still be in the shadow of the Shard.”

That comment drew my eye back to the landmark I'd been trying to avoid looking at for the last few weeks. Feelings of bitterness and resent tried to rear their head, but I forced them down. Nothing to gain there.

“Mind if I come along?” Dallyce asked.

“The more the merrier,” Celeste answered before I could say anything. I gave the Hunter a warning look, and she just blinked back innocently. Celeste had been trying very hard to include Dallyce in everything we had done since she arrived. I had a feeling there was more motive than just being friendly.

“That would be fine,” I said. “You joining us will give us a full fireteam of six, and we can split into two equal squads if we need to. Everyone gear up, gather whatever you need, and meet back here ASAP.”

The each set off or transmatted back to their ships.

“Elgan, what have we got?”

“Most of your stuff was lost in the Tower,” he replied. “You lost your Parthian Shot and your Burden of Proof on Mars. I still have your Zombie Apocalypse, but we have no ammo for it, and no one here has been manufacturing rounds for heavy machine guns.”

“Shame, that.”

“Yes.” He continued, “You still have the auto rifle you acquired before heading off to the Shard. Which I'm still not sure how you got, by the way.”

“Yeah... I don't have that anymore,” I said, scrunching up my face and scratching behind my right ear. “I'd, let's say borrowed, that and put it back where I found it a while back.”

Elgan sighed and muttered, “Sounds like a bad habit you picked up from a Hunter.” He continued, louder, “Then we'll need to visit the armory. Some of the new field weave might be a good idea as well. What you're in has taken a beating and has definitely seen better days.”

“True,” I agreed, running a hand over the battered and scarred chest plate. “Let's get to it then.”

Glimmer wasn't worth what it once was, given our dire straits, but with a combination of the currency, cashing in some favors, and promising some new ones, I managed to get my hands on a new auto rifle, a shotgun, and some armor that didn't look like it had bounced around the solar system and then been worn for over a month straight. The gauntlets even came with the shield emitter built in. I passed on getting a new mark though. Damage and dirt added character as far as that was concerned. It was actually beginning to remind me of the first mark I'd ever worn in that regard, the Mark of Sacrifice.

Re-armed and armored, I felt ready to do what needed to be done. I took a few minutes to check the teams' names off any rotations for the next couple days. Didn't want anyone standing around wondering why their help wasn't showing up while we were off traipsing all over the EDZ.

While we were walking, I asked Elgan, “Don't suppose you were given a way to get in contact with this Devrim along with the coordinates?”

“Actually, yes,” he replied. “There was a communication frequency included. We were supposed to reach out when we were actually leaving.”

“Okay, we'll-”

“This is interesting.”

I turned back to look at the Ghost who had frozen in his path. The pieces of his shell were twirling as they did when he had a mystery to solve.

“What is?”

“Devrim Kay,” he said, his optic focusing on me. “I actually have a record. Devrim Kay the 8th. He's City Militia.”

“City Militia?” I puzzled. “How does a member of the militia get in such good standing with people living outside of the City that he becomes one of their main scouts this quickly?”

“That is an excellent question,” the Ghost answered.

“I'm tired of questions,” I sighed and held out my hand.

“I know,” Elgan replied, settling on my palm.

“So this time, I'll be sure to get some answers.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we'll have a friendly chat with Mr. Kay before going on his little mission.”

“Claney...” the Ghost warned.

“I said friendly and I meant friendly, Elgan, don't worry.”

“So you mean actual conversation, not Titan conversation?”

I laughed, “Yes. Actual conversation.”

“Good,” Elgan said before dematerializing. “Hawthorne asked us to check on him. I get the feeling she wouldn't appreciate any punching being involved in that.”

We entered the main courtyard. “Can I just point out that the fact that I am the only one who has been punched lately?”

“By your daughter,” Elgan's voice sounded in my head. “Who do you think she learned it from?”

“Touché.”

I spotted Zillah standing near where we'd gathered earlier. No one else was in sight yet. I hesitated a second before crossing over to her. We hadn't been alone more than a minute or two since the first conversation we had after arriving at the Farm. It actually felt a little like she had been avoiding me for some reason. She didn't react to me approaching, and then I realized I was wearing a new set of armor with nothing to indicate that it was me. I reached up and took off the helmet when I was still a couple meters from her and saw something flash behind her eyes when she finally noticed me.

“You felt the need to change clothes before setting off on a mission?” she asked, one eyebrow quirked upward.

“Well, you know,” I said, turning in place, “have to show off the latest Farm fashions while out patrolling the EDZ.”

That got a little smile. “Are green, gold, and wolves out of season?”

“I figured taking the time to add the vanity plates would have been a little much under the circumstances.”

“Well, you look weird without it,” she said, her face taking on a neutral expression again.

I opened my mouth to offer a comment, but stopped and let out the breath I'd taken in. I glanced around before turning my attention back to her. Her head was turned away from me now to where I could not see her eyes. She reached up to brush a strand of green hair away from her ear and I watched the luminescence common to Awoken play across her cheek. I felt a need to say something, anything.

“Zillah...”

Zillah turned toward me, but then her focus carried past me and her eyes narrowed briefly. I followed her gaze and saw Dallyce striding toward us. The Titan had also taken time to buy armor, and was decked out in a set similar to mind, though shaped for a female frame. She smiled as she approached, slapping her hand against the plate covering my back when she reached us.

“Don't you hate it when you show up to a party wearing the same thing as someone else?” she asked. “Hard to avoid when it does seem to be the prevailing style here, I suppose.”

At the comment, I became aware of several other Guardians wearing Farm produced gear moving around as well.

“Function ahead of form,” Zillah replied. “They're more focused on making useful armor quickly rather than putting the frills some of the City foundries did.”

Dallyce stepped closer to Zillah, reaching up to rap a knuckle against the Awoken woman's shoulder pauldron. “You're taking it too seriously,” she said, circling the Warlock.

“Someone has to,” Zillah muttered.

Dallyce gave a dangerous smile, then placed her arm around Zillah's shoulder and leaned toward her, speaking into her ear in a stage whisper, “Don't take the occasional frivolous comment or action to mean that I'm taking anything too lightly. I was in the Tower when it fell. I am perfectly aware of the stakes and risks that each day currently brings. We all have our way of dealing with things. This is mine. Seems a better option than lashing out at everyone who annoys me and punching things, yes?”

Zillah shrugged off the human woman's arm and took a step away, crossing her own arms over her chest.

“As a Warlock, I would think you would appreciate a little more effort put into style,” Dallyce continued at a normal tone of voice. “I mean, what is up with all the rope?”

“It's probably to bundle up and carry around any books they find,” Celeste answered as she arrived unseen.

“See, I hadn't even thought of that,” Dallyce said. “I guess it really is all about function.”

Kana and Tanton showed up shortly after that. They had each acquired new weapons, as well as plenty of ammo and supplies. We each compared stores, trying to make sure we had everything that we could potentially if we ended up being out for an extended time. Our Ghosts stored everything away, and we were set.

“Should we each take our ships, or travel together to reduce the amount of traffic that could be tracked?” Kana asked.

“I'll have to travel with someone, I still don't have a ship,” Tanton added.

“We could go in two, split into our three person squads already,” Dallyce suggested.

“That works,” I said. “Tanton, you're with me, Kana's with Celeste.” That left a Warlock and a Titan, so the squads wouldn't be exactly balanced. It was an easy split though, given the personalities. “Zillah, you're with me and Tanton. Dallyce, with the other two.”

The Lost Days wasn't quite as roomy as the Invictus had been. The smaller ship was only designed for one passenger, where the Invictus comfortably held a strike team. Zillah's ship turned out to be even smaller, though. She'd given up her Reef-made vessel she'd acquired with tokens from the Prison of Elders, and exchanged it for something that looked vaguely like a gnat. Stealthy, but no room for company. We transmatted onto the Lost Days.

“Elgan, open a channel to Devrim,” I said once we were aboard.

He chirped a reply, and a few moments later, I heard a voice that carried what once would have been considered an upper-class English accent in my ears.

“Hello, Guardian,” he greeted warmly. “To what do I owe the pleasure.”

“Suraya Hawthorne said you needed some help looking into enemy troop movements,” I said. “We're it.”

“Ah, excellent,” he replied. “Meet me in the church at the coordinates she gave you. I'll fill you in once you're here.”

“Roger, roger,” I said, unconsciously copying the phrase Celeste threw around at times. I had Elgan open a channel to the team then. “Let's go see what we've gotten ourselves into.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I realized that I had Claney using a gun earlier, even once saying, “...the auto rifle I picked up from the Farm...”, yet at no point did I ever actually write him getting (or really give the time for him to get) a new weapon. Oops. Might go back and add something into a chapter later to fix it. I've caught a few typos as well while going back over the previous chapters trying to figure out where he got the gun he was using. I'll probably just wait to fix those until the story is done, kind of like what I did when I re-posted Patrol to AO3.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 

The coordinates we received dropped us off near a ruined church in an area identified as “Trostland”. Whether that was the pre-Collapse name of the city, the region, or something else, I couldn't say. Our Ghosts immediately received a ping from Devrim Kay, placing him inside the church. I glanced toward the building, and caught a brief glimpse of a bearded face peaking through a window in the tower. He offered a friendly salute, then ducked back out of sight.

“Guess that's our guy?” Kana asked.

“Let's go find out,” I replied.

We strode toward the building, glancing around at the remains of the city. Building facades were crumbled, damaged vehicles lay in various states of disrepair, and grass had broken through much of the concrete and pavement. Most of the damage looked like it could have happened in the Collapse, but there were signs of much more recent action.

“Fallen. And Cabal,” Tanton said, pointing to some scoring along a wall.

“Not the friendliest spot to plan a meeting,” Celeste muttered.

We stepped out of the sunlight and into the church building through a hole in the wall. Much of the interior was gutted. Across from our entrance, a ramshackle ramp built on a pile of rubble and stone led up to where we had seen the man earlier. 

One by one, our Ghosts emerged and began scanning the place, beams of light passing over everything in sight. There were a few markers of different sorts painted on the wall. Several of them turned out to be from the Fallen, including the biggest surprise of all.

“That's a House Judgment symbol,” Elgan stated as he scanned the image. “Like Variks, out in the Reef. I thought he was considered a traitor by the other Houses.”

“Well,” Zillah replied, “either you were mistaken, or something has happened to change his standing with them.”

“Mistaken?” the Ghost chirped, sounded as offended as I had ever heard.

“Things were changing with the Fallen,” I commented. “Right before all this mess with the Cabal, there were reports coming in of empty camps, burned House banners, and weapons left behind. The Fallen had pulled back, were disappearing.”

“And here in the EDZ we find an unfamiliar House, and now this,” Zillah remarked. “Curious.”

“Well, lets go see what answers our friend up stairs has for us,” I said, taking the lead and heading for the ramp.

Once at the top of the ramp, we had to climb up a small ledge, then were met with damaged boards and walkways. Someone, likely Devrim or one of the other scouts, had build some scaffolding that made a walkway up to a high platform. It was there that we found our scout, sniper rifle in hand, holed up in a little nest he had made for himself.

“Ah, there you are, Guardians,” he said. “I thought you might be a little bit longer. Hadn't even had time to make tea.”

“Tea? Is he joking?” Celeste asked over a private line.

I glanced at her and shrugged before turning my attention back to Devrim. His salt-and-pepper hair and beard were neatly trimmed. It almost looked too immaculate for a wilderness scout in the middle of a war zone. He was dressed in simple clothing, but some of his gear bore City Militia patches, confirming the file that Elgan had found.

“Devrim?” I asked.

“Devrim Kay, the third,” he said with a nod, “at your service. And you are?”

“Claney Beamard,” I said indicating myself, then pointed to the others. “Celeste Etain, Kana-4, Tanton Holton, Zillah Arvid, and Dallyce Lua.”

“A pleasure,” he replied. “Suraya tells me your team here has been doing quite a bit to help around the Farm.”

“We've tried helping out where we could.”

“Well, she won't ever say it herself, but it is appreciated,” Devrim said. A sound came from one of the computers he had set up on a table in the corner. “And speaking of Suraya, here she is now.”

The earlier sound in the speaker was replaced by a voice. “Dev?”

“I'm here, Suraya,” he said, “and I just met your new Guardian friends. I must say, I do prefer the company you've been keeping lately to those ruffians you used to run around with.”

Hawthorne laughed, “Hey, those 'ruffians' taught me some of the tricks that helped me make it out here, Old Man.”

At the last two words, I saw Celeste's helmet snap in my direction, her hand raising up and pointing at me. I could just imagine the look she was giving me behind the visor. Of course, the words were familiar. So was the tone that Suraya had delivered the words in. Guess that explains how Devrim moved up in the hierarchy out here so quickly.

“Hmph, and here I imagined it was all mine and Marc's doing,” the sniper said with a smile.

“You might have had something to do with it,” Hawthorne admitted. “I had just wanted to check in and see if they'd had a chance to get in touch with you yet. Take care of yourself out there.”

“I always do,” he said before reaching over and cutting the line, turning his attention back to us. “Now, where were we? Ah, yes, finishing introductions. I've heard good things about you and your team, I'm hoping you can look into something for me.”

“Hawthorne mentioned that. Something about enemy troop movements?”

“That is one way to put it,” Devrim said, shooting a look out the window behind him. “I've been all over the EDZ since the Tower fell. Our network of scouts has done the same. We've been watching that new group of Fallen spread all through the area. They call themselves the House of Dusk and seem to be a conglomeration of all the old Houses.

“Next, it was the blasted Red Legion setting up a Firebase. They've shown interest in the piece of the Traveler, but they're also searching for something and have starting mining operations in the region. Haven't a clue what it could be, yet.

“Now, as if those two weren't keeping our hands full, we're starting to see the Taken moving in.”

“The Taken?” Kana asked, an odd note in her voice, one that sounded close to fear. Not that I could blame her entirely, given what had happened the last time we had run into those creatures.

“Yes,” he replied. “We started detecting... well, the best way to describe it would be 'aberrations in reality', and then Taken started popping up all over. We haven't been able to make any sense out of their actions yet. I was hoping we could get someone who was more familiar with them to take a look.”

“It sounds like you have scouts all over the region keeping an eye on pretty much everything,” I said. “I'm not quite sure why you need us. How much of a different will six more sets of eyes make?”

“It isn't that,” Devrim said. “It's the Taken specifically.” 

“What about them?” Celeste asked.

The sniper sighed and shook his head. “Look, Guardian, most of the people out here aren't used to dealing with the things you are. Some of them have combat experience with the Militia, or they've had to fight to survive, but that was mostly against other desperate people or Fallen raiders, mostly Dregs. Paracausal forces? Light? Dark? That is all beyond their ken. I need someone familiar with the forces at hand.”

I nodded at that. “Makes sense.”

“So, what do you say?” Devrim asked. “Are you in?”

I paused for just a moment, looking over my shoulder at the team to see if anyone was going to raise any objection. As I expected, no one did. “We're in.”

“Excellent,” Devrim replied, relaxing almost imperceptibly. “I knew I had a good feeling about you Guardians.”

“So where have the Taken been showing up?” I asked.

Devrim set a small device on the floor and pressed a button on the side. A holographic map of the area appeared in the area, with various features and areas labeled. As soon as it sprang to life, our Ghosts emerged and began scanning it, committing it to memory.

“The Cabal control most of the western region here, and are starting to work their way east. You'll find mostly Fallen packs through the rest of the map, but here,” he indicated a section of the map, “the two of them keep skirmishing, and that is where the Taken have been popping up.”

I studied the hologram closely, looking at the winding terrain. If I was looking at it correctly, the area where all three of our adversaries were colliding was the closest spot here to the Shard. That couldn't possibly be a coincidence. My thoughts were echoed in Zillah's words.

“That is the nearest area on that map to the piece of the Traveler,” she said. “We know the Fallen have set up camp all around it. The Red Legion put that... whatever it was around the Traveler to block its Light. I'd bet just about anything they are trying to get to the Shard and that the Shard is what is drawing in the Taken as well.”

“Then we need to keep them from it,” Dallyce stated.

“We've had some luck inserting operatives here,” Devrim pointed to a corner of the region we had been studying.

“Maybe,” I replied, “but ships coming in still might draw more attention than I'd like for now. We'll take our sparrows and follow this pathway here and approach from the south.”

Devrim nodded, “That should work, though you may run into some Fallen.”

I mulled it over briefly, but dismissed the concern. “I'll take my chances. Nothing we haven't handled before. Is there anything else you can tell us about the Taken in the area?”

“We've found multiple incursion sites,” he replied. “Spaces where the evidence of their presence lingers. However, they have been showing up out of the blue frequently. When they do, it is in this pattern.”

Devrim picked up his holographic projector and switched off the map. He slipped out a memory stick, then inserted a different one. Once the new stick was in place, another image flickered to life. 

It was a still image someone had captured showing a Taken deployment. There were three blights arranged in a triangular pattern, each shielded by a dome similar to what Taken Vandals produced, though larger than any I had seen them use before. Inside these domes were multiple Taken units in defensive positions. Between these positions was another blight. Like the shields, this blight was much larger than any I had run into before. Threads of some sort of dark energy tethered the guarded positions to the larger blight.

“What are they doing?” Zillah asked, stepping closer to the image.

“If I knew that, I wouldn't have needed to call you,” Devrim replied, a teasing note in his voice.

“These strands of energy. Could it be...” the Warlock trailed off as she studied the picture, her fingertips tracing the dark streaks.

“Yes?” I asked.

“I'm not sure,” she said, shaking her head. “We need to get a look at the real thing.”

“Then let's do it,” Dallyce chimed in.

I nodded. “Let's get going, see what we can see. We'll head up there together, then split into our two squads so we can cover more ground.”

“I'll keep monitoring as well,” Devrim added. “Let you know if I pick up any traces of them.”

I nodded an affirmation and we made our way back down the various scaffolds and ramps to the ground floor. Silently, I told Elgan to keep an open line to Devrim and to put the map on my HUD. I studied the twists and turns of the terrain and known pathways.

“Watch yourself and watch each others' backs out there,” I told the team. “This will probably the most exposed and vulnerable we've been, in unfamiliar territory with and unknown number of Fallen, Cabal, and Taken in the field. Stick close together and don't take unnecessary chances. Let's go.”

We exited the building, and our sparrows were transmatted in. I straddled the machine, settling into the seat. Glancing at the others, I saw everyone else doing the same. Once everyone was situated, I nodded and set off, the rest of the team falling in line behind me.

We sped along the remains of Golden Age streets, passing the decaying hulks of buildings that had stood for centuries. The number and layout of the windows indicated that many of them had been apartment buildings. I wondered briefly about the lives of the people who had lived here before forcing my mind back on the task at hand. Without the Light, I didn't have the luxury of driving distracted, not when one wrong move could be the end of everything.

I glanced at the map display on my HUD, checking the position of the rest of the team and watching for any signs of enemy movement. If any of the enemy forces had managed to put in roots here, this would have been a good place to put snipers. So far, so good. Ahead, it looked like we were going to hit a more open space. We would need to stay close to the sides to avoid being too easy and inviting a target.

The narrow street opened into some sort of public square. A large, central area was ringed by crumbling statues, with ruined buildings hemming it in on three sides. The fourth side was open and lead to a drop-off. I steered my sparrow to the right to follow the trail, and that was when we ran into the trouble we had so far avoided.

The buildings were infested with Fallen.

“Thrall spit,” I cursed and jammed the handles hard to the left, cutting sharply toward the center of the square as Arc bolts peppered the ground exactly where I would have driven. I nearly lost control of the machine, but managed to steady it. The problem was, I was now driving straight at the cliff. I turned the sparrow around, heading back the direction we'd come.

“Wait, are we running away?” Kana asked.

“No,” I replied,” but there's no cover here, and we can't get between those two buildings.”

Once we were back around the cover, I braked hard and dismounted. A second later, my sparrow disintegrated in a shimmer of transmat effect. The others quickly followed suit.

“What's the plan?” Celeste asked.

“We need to get through this point,” I said. “We can try the sparrows again, but they were clearly waiting for us. It would be impossible to get through without taking fire. We can try to find a way through or around the buildings back here and then catch back up to the road on the other side. Or we go in on foot and try to clear the Fallen out of the buildings.”

“I vote we clear them out,” Dallyce replied. “No need to leave them a nest to hole up in.”

“Agreed,” Tanton said.

“Before we lost the Light, I'd be more than happy to do that,” Kana added. “But now, trying to slip around sounds like a good idea. But they know we're here, they would probably follow us.”

“Good point. Clear them out it is. Stick together, clear one room at a time.”

We edged around the corner of the building. It seemed as though some of the Fallen had indeed decided to try to come after us, as several enemies were out in the open, mostly Shanks and Dregs, though there were a couple Vandals visible as well. The nearest Dreg squawked in surprise to see us before its head disappeared in a puff of ether.

I opened fire with my auto rifle, rounds tearing through a Shank, causing the small drone to explode. The rest of the team jumped into action, and several more of the scavengers fell dead. The Fallen reacted to our assault by scrambling for cover. Watching them, I noticed a hole large enough for us to enter close by and motioned to it. We made a break for it, firing a few wild shots as we ran. Once we were in, I tried out the new shield emitter, blocking our entrance so that the shock blasts fired at us did not follow us in.

“We're in, now what?” Celeste asked.

“Now we get to work.”

“I think the work is coming to us,” Kana said. 

On the HUD, red blips were rapidly converging on our location. It looked as though an army was about to storm the room. We braced ourselves for the assault, but still almost missed it. There were no Dregs or Shanks, instead an almost imperceptible shimmer.

“We've got invisible Fallen!” Dallyce called out, opening fire at a corner of the room. 

The Fallen that she had shot staggered, its cloak disappearing. It had all four arms, and wore no armor. Instead, it almost looked like a Hunter mixed with a Titan, wearing a hood on its head and had a strip of cloth hanging at its waist. All four hands carried swords. The Fallen shrieked, then leaped forward. Tanton drew his sword and met it.

Blasts from a Shrapnel launcher fired from another hidden figure. Several shots landed, setting off warning bells in my armor. We scattered, firing at any hint of movement. Three more of the aliens were uncloaked, two with the shrapnel launchers and another with swords. We managed to take down the four of them, but there was still a lot of activity on the HUD.

Dregs tried to push in from the hole we had entered, with a group of Shanks behind them. From the distance, a Vandal sniper was firing into the opening as well, attempting to keep us off balance. We maneuvered around the room, finding cover and returning fire. Once the Dregs and Shanks were down, Celeste out-dueled the Vandal, putting an end to the sniper fire. She stepped to the opening, looking for any other targets.

“Why are they being so aggressive?” Zillah asked, though the tone was one I recognized as her thinking aloud rather than seeking an answer.

Dallyce answered anyway. “Maybe they know we lost our Light and assume we're vulnerable.”

“They also seemed prepared for us, opening fire as soon as we came around the corner,” I said. “How would they know we were coming?”

There was a noise outside, and Celeste spoke up, “Hey, dad, we've got more company.”

I stepped over to see what she was talking about, and watched as a skiff flew in, dropping off more Fallen. Beneath it, a very large Servitor took shape.

“That... is a big Servitor,” Kana-4 whispered behind me.

“It's a Prime Servitor,” I said. “I'm surprised to see one out in the open like this.”

“Maybe that's why they Fallen seemed to be waiting for us,” Zillah opined. “They were here and waiting to protect that.”

“Devrim,” I said, bringing the scout into the conversation. “You know anything about a Prime Servitor skulking about in the EDZ?”

He replied, “Yes. We've seen it several times. It is there to resupply the Fallen with ether. Might I recommend destroying it? Keep them hungry, Guardian.”

I mulled over the idea. Taking on a target that big, with the number of support troops is had in the area was risky, but cutting the Fallen supply lines could be huge.

“Let's do it. Take down the Servitor.”

Celeste didn't hesitate, bringing her sniper rifle to bear and snapping off a shot that hit the big machine right in its “eye”. The Servitor staggered, then turned to locate us. Celeste ducked behind the wall, and Tanton did the same on the other side, switching his sword out for a sniper as well. Zillah, Dallyce, Kana, and I rushed out of the hole, darting to cover behind low, crumbled walls and rusted out vehicles. The Servitor had been preparing to launch a Void volley at the hole in the wall, but our sudden movement caused it to shift its aim enough that it missed.

We opened fire, striking the large machine from several directions at once. Without warning, the Servitor blinked out of existence for just a moment, warping to a different point to try to get a better angle to fire from. The Fallen beneath it fired at our positions as well.

“Hunters, shift your fire to pick off the foot soldiers. Everyone else, keep firing at that Servitor!”

In response to my call, I heard twin reports of sniper rifles, and two Fallen fell over. I poked out from behind cover just enough to fire at the big machine, emptying an entire clip into it before having to duck back to safety.

I saw Dallyce get up and run. She was attempting to move from one piece of cover to another. She stood, took several steps, and then suddenly disappeared.

“What the-” she said, followed by, “Oh, Shanks!”

The shock of it drew me to my feet. I looked around, trying to figure out what happened, and then movement drew my eye upward. Dallyce was plummeting out of the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably guess, this is going to get to the retaking of the City and Tower at some point. I could use some extra Guardians for that chapter when it comes. Or just the occasional extra Guardian for scenes in the field or at the Farm. If anyone has a Guardian they would like to see appear in this story, let me know. Name, basic description of their appearance, class, preferred subclass, personality, etc.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

 

Dallyce was in the air, dropping quickly.  If we still had the Light, she would be able to use Lift to slow her fall, or any one of us could have tried to catch her.  As it was, there was little I could do but watch her fall.

“What just happened?” I shouted.

“The Servitor!  It transmatted her into the air!” Kana yelled back.

“Since when can they do that?” Celeste asked.

Dallyce tried to maneuver herself in the air to adjust how she would land.  Her feet hit and she flung herself forward, sending herself tumbling violently across stone and concrete at least two meters.  She came to a stop and did not move. I sprinted from cover, running to where she lay in a heap, dropping to my knees to check on her when I reached her side.

Her Ghost cut in on the comms, “She’s still alive.  I can’t say everything that is wrong without a full scan, but her legs are broken, and something is torn in her shoulder.”

She might be alive now, but she wouldn’t be for long laying out here.  Quickly, I slipped an arm under her shoulders and another under her thighs, scooping her up.  The movement brought a groan of pain from her. 

“You just had to get me in your arms again, huh, Big Red?” she asked, her voice strained.

I didn’t respond, just turned, rushing to get behind the cover of a large vehicle that was rusting near the cliff.  Once we were behind it, I noticed a pathway leading down to a lower ledge. I followed the slope, putting both the vehicle and earth between us and the Servitor.

I knelt and set her down as gently as I could, resting her back up against the rock wall.  Even so, she flinched when her legs touched the ground. Her Ghost emerged and began sweeping a beam of Light over her.

“I’ve been... trying to get your attention for weeks,” Dallyce rasped.  “If I would have known that all it took was nearly getting... killed by a Servitor, it could have saved me a lot of barn raising.”

“You’re delirious from the pain,” I told her.  “And there are much better ways of getting noticed than shattering your legs.”

Her helmet turned to face me.  “No I’m not. I may be trying to distract myself, but my mind is perfectly clear.”

I stared at her for a few seconds, at a loss for words.  I held out my hand and Elgan appeared. “Help her Ghost get her up,” I told him, then headed back up to rejoin the fight.

Several smaller Servitors had appeared and were shielding the Prime, which was still bombarding the area with Void blasts.  I fired from my position, drawing their attention from the others for at least a few seconds. The auto rifle didn’t seem to be doing much good from this range, and the Prime Servitor looked like we had barely scratched it.  I really wished I had my Light or a good LMG.

“Incoming skiff,” I heard Whisper, Celeste’s Ghost, call out.

“If they’re bringing in another wave of Fallen, we may need to fall back,” I said, hating the words.  “We don’t have anything big enough to take down that Servitor, and next time it decides to transmat someone into the air, they might not be as lucky with their landing.”

“Dislike,” Celeste muttered.

“Seconded,” Tanton replied.

The skiff that Whisper had detected came roaring in overhead.  Rather than drop off any more troops however, the Prime Servitor and several pieces of equipment were transmatted out of the field.  The Fallen troops that had been attacking suddenly stopped firing and melted away into the landscape.

“What just happened?”  Kana asked.

“I think they just finished their either resupply,” Zillah responded.

Checking the HUD, all markers indicating enemy motion had vanished.  Slowly, we all emerged from the various locations we had taken cover.

“So we failed?”

“Looks that way,” I said.

“Well we’re on quite the roll, aren’t we?”  Celeste’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Taken captive by a crazy Warlock and the Taken, barely getting away from the Cabal, now getting bested by a bunch of Fallen and their over-sized bouncy ball.”

“Wait, what was that first part?” Dallyce asked.  Her voice sounded much steadier than it had moments ago.

“Something that happened on Mars,” I said, giving a dismissive wave that I realized after the fact that she wouldn’t have seen.  “I’ll tell you about it later.”

A private channel opened, and Celeste said, “I’m sure you will, Big Red.”

“Wait.  You heard that?”

“Yep.  It was all on the team channel.  Everyone heard, Old Man.”

Of course it had been on the team line, she wouldn’t have had the time or wherewithal to open a private line at that moment.  I felt my face getting hot and was thankful for the helmet. It meant no one could see it turn red enough to match my hair, as I’m sure it was doing.

“Thrall spit.”

Celeste laughed and cut the line.  The laughter was loud enough to draw attention from those standing near her.  A moment later, Dallyce came walking out from behind the large vehicle, still looking a little unsteady.  Her Ghost was following her, sweeping a healing beam over her as it did. Elgan flitted away from the two of them and made his way to me, dissipating into my armor as he did so.

“Her Ghost should have her to 100% in no time,” he said.

I had him open a line to Dallyce.  “You good to go?”

“Yeah,” was the one word reply.

I nodded.  “Alright, everyone, let’s get back to it.  And maybe take it a little slower this time so we don’t run head on into a group like that again.”

One by one, the hover bikes transmatted in, and everyone climbed back onto them.  We set off, not quite at the same break-neck pace we had been traveling at prior, which turned out to be a good thing, but that had nothing to do with enemies.  This section of the road had not held up to the centuries as well as the previous area had. Low bridges were collapsed. The pavement was cracked and broken into chunks, laying uneven on the ground.  Debris was scattered in the way in multiple places. This was desolate territory.

No one seemed to have much to say, and the silence let me think.  Or, made me, depending on your point of view. My mind kept fixating on just one thing, mulling over what Dallyce had said to me about trying to get my attention.  The truth is, I had noticed.  The woman wasn’t exactly subtle.  I had just let it all slide past.

I had learned long ago what could happen if you let people get close or tried to build relationships in this strange and violent second life that we lived.  I’d been very close to my original fireteam, we had been a family. I barely survived losing most of them. After that, there had not been anyone I let get close until Celeste came along.  Even then, I can see that I kept her at arm’s length more often than she deserved. I’d been better about it since the SIVA crisis, since we’d had our little confrontation at the Tower, but I was far from perfect.

Then Astrid partially joined our little family, and she and Celeste had decided that I was lonely and needed someone in my life.  They’d tried setting me up on dates, which I managed to avoid until they roped Cayde into their schemes. I’d had the one date with Dallyce, and it had been a nice night, but I had opted not to follow up on that.  It seems she might have preferred things to go differently.

And, of course, there was one other person that I had opened myself up to not so long ago, and that… well, that was painful and complicated things.

Thinking about Celeste and Astrid trying to set me up made me wonder again about Astrid and whether she had made it out of the City.  That, thankfully, derailed the previous line of thought. After Astrid it was Scott, and then a whole list of Guardians I knew that I had not seen or heard about since the Tower fell.  I wondered if we would ever fully be able to know what happened to everyone. My mind continued to race down that rabbit hole until we approached the area known as The Sludge.

I snapped back to the present, bringing my sparrow to a stop.  Around me, the others did the same. We stopped at the top of a rise, just before the shattered road dropped down into the depressed area.  Overhead, cables ran for a transit system, an abandoned cable car still dangling overhead. There were a number of dilapidated buildings in sight, with a creeping vine of some sort having grown and spread over most of them.  It looked like it might have been an old mining camp or something similar in the past.

A flash of red indicating an enemy movement flashed at the upper edges of my HUD.  “Movement. Think we found our Taken that quickly?”

Tanton grabbed his sniper rifle and looked through the scope.  “No. Cabal. Different armor than I’ve seen before. No indication they’ve seen us.”

The Cabal.  We hadn’t seen any of the space turtles since Mars, and that had been an old unit.  If there were Cabal here that meant we would likely be getting our first look at the Red Legion, the faction that had taken our home and slaughtered our people.  We would have to be very careful here.

“Let’s try to give them a wide berth.  Don’t engage unless you have to.”

“I’d rather put them down,” Dallyce grumbled.  “After what I saw them do at the Tower…”

“I understand, but we don’t know the terrain or how many of them there are.  There’s six of us, and we are not exactly loaded for bear. Our main focus is trying to figure out what the Taken might be up to.”

“I don’t like it,” she replied.

“That seems to be a common response to things I’ve been saying lately.  Regardless, for now we try to avoid the Cabal. If the right opportunity presents itself, maybe that changes.  

“At present, let’s stay up on the ridges.  Use the buildings and trees here for cover to survey the situation.  Let’s split into the squads we discussed earlier. Tanton, Zillah and I will head this way,” I pointed to my left.  “Celeste, Dallyce, and Kana head the opposite direction. Keep in contact and meet on the far side.”

I didn’t really like the idea of leaving the Cabal alone either.  Part of me wanted to rush in, guns blazing, and take them out. However, we were too vulnerable right now, a fact that had been driven home by that Servitor.  

“If the Cabal are here for the Shard, why are they hanging around here instead of pushing further in?” Zillah questioned.

I began the climb up to higher ground, looking for places to grab or put my feet.  “No clue. Maybe it’s related to whatever the Taken are doing.”

“I thought your Ghost was the one who always stated the obvious.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Elgan retorted.

“Exhibit A.”

“Hmph.”

Tanton made it to the top first, looked back to check on us, then worked his way forward, barely making a sound.  He eventually left us behind, disappearing into the woods. I wasn’t too concerned about losing sight of him. Despite being a young Guardian, Tanton had shown that he was very skilled.  If we all survived this invasion and managed to get our Light back, I could see him becoming a top Hunter one day.

“I do normally leave that to him-” I began, but the Ghost interrupted.

“Et tu, Brute?” 

“-but he’s needed to conserve his energy since being cut off from the Traveler, so someone has to pick up the slack,” I finished.

“I question the necessity of that.”

“Would it be pointing out the obvious to say that questioning us is what you do best?” Elgan huffed.

Zillah snapped her head back in our direction, looking right at me since the Ghost was currently diffused in my armor.  Her expression unreadable under her helmet, but I could guess it wasn’t the kindest of looks. 

“He’s been grouchy lately,” I offered with a shrug.  She turned away without a word, stalking forward and I chided him privately, “Way to go, big mouth.”

“She started it,” he groused.

“Now you sound like Celeste.”

“I’ve always thought your daughter was wise beyond her years.”

“You’ve never said anything of the sort.”

“I don’t always say everything I think.”

Once again, I didn’t agree, but I opted to let that one pass.  I noticed Zillah was starting to pull ahead, and hurried to catch up.

We were approaching one of the abandoned buildings along the ridge line.  The sun had bleached the color from the paint, and most of the windows were missing, small shards of glass still clung on stubbornly in some spots.  The building itself was massive, starting up on the ridge line. and reaching down to the ground below. Something about it gave me the impression it continued below ground level and it clearly extended back into the stone wall as well.  Stepping up, I glanced through the window and peaked inside. It didn’t look like anything living had passed through there since the Collapse. Thick layers of dust covered rusted equipment.

“More Cabal,” Tanton called out.  “Another small squad hanging around some abandoned rail cars.  Psions and Legionaries.”

“We’ve spotted a few too,” Celeste said.  “Psions and something that looked like a Phalanx, but I didn’t have he same big, stupid shield.”

I stopped my inspection of the building’s interior, turning my attention out toward the red blips that were just edging into the radar of my HUD.  “Any sign of Taken?”

Various negative responses followed the question.

“Keep following the perimeter.  When we meet up, we’ll discuss how to proceed if they Taken don’t show.”

I circled around the high portion of the building, then continued onward.  Rounding the corner, I saw that the ground extending back from the ledge was the roof of more of the place.  I kept back, not wanting to break through a weakened spot and tumble down inside. I saw Zillah with Tanton a bit further up.  The Hunter was kneeling down, looking through his scope at something I couldn’t see from here. Beyond the two of them was a cap in the stony formation with the cracked road continuing on to the next area.

“He spotted more Cabal just ahead,” Zillah said.  “Two Psions and Legionary near a cave.”

I nodded.  “And we’re pretty much all the way around, so that should be the end of it.  Not too many of them here, and they are spread thin. It doesn’t seem like they were expecting too much trouble.”

“Which seems strange, if the Taken have been frequenting this area,” she replied.  “Either these Cabal are new here, or we’re in the wrong place.”

“The other team is nearing the targets,” Tanton said.  “Also, the Cabal keep stepping behind a large rock that could conceal any action we take.”

I considered the situation.  The numbers weren’t bad. It would be helpful as well if we could get in lower to look around if we were going to find signs of the Taken.  “Okay, here’s the plan. Tanton, take out the Legionary. Celeste, Dallyce, and Kana, after he takes his shot, go for the Psions.”

“Finally, the man talks some sense,” Dallyce replied.

“Take the shot when you’re ready,” I said.

Tanton glanced at me and nodded.  He looked back through the scope of his sniper rifle and quickly pulled the trigger.

“Legionary is down,” Celeste said.  “Going after the Psions.”

I motioned for us to move forward, since I still couldn’t see what was happening.  We scrambled down the ridge and crossed the opening as quickly as we could, then hung close to the cliff.  It was over by the time we were in view. Celeste waved when she spotted us, and we slowed to a jog. Once we were there, I finally got my first good look at members of the Red Legion.

Cabal were Cabal.  The bigger space turtle and the two smaller creatures were what one would expect.  Their armor and armaments were a bit different.

The Psions helmets no longer covered the tops of their heads, exposing their singular eye.  The helmet also sported some ornamentation, similar to what had been spotted on Psion Flayers before.  Whether that meant that these Psions had been higher ranking, or if it was just a Red Legion thing, I couldn’t say.  Other than that and the red coloring, they appeared mostly the same.

The Legionary mostly stood out due to its helmet as well.  It sported a vaguely t-shaped ornament, as opposed to the smooth look most Cabal had.  Most Legionaries I had seen had large shoulder armor that this one was missing. The biggest difference though was the massive blade attached to the Cabal’s forearm.  

Seeing that reminded me of the Guardian corpses we had discovered when we first returned to Earth.  Many of them had looked like they had been hacked at with large blades. I wondered if this was the weapon that had caused the injuries.

Zillah stooped down next to the bodies, looking them over.  Fievel appeared next to her and began scanning them, Warlock and Ghost gathering whatever information they could about the enemy.  While she did that, I looked around, trying to figure out a next move.

To be able to move freely, we had at least three other clusters of Cabal that would need to be dealt with.  We had no idea when or if they were expecting any sort of reinforcements, or if these that we had killed would be expected to call in at some point.  We were going to have to move quickly to try to stay ahead of any variables.

“There was a group next to that building there, correct?” I gestured to a rusted, half collapsed structure on a rise that housed the train cars that had been mentioned earlier.

“Yes,” Celeste said.  “And that edge there looks down onto the other group, who are hanging near a path cut through the rock by a small stream.”

“Okay.  There’s something half buried in the rock there that looks like a silo or water tower.  We’ll go up and around that, take the Cabal in that structure, then use the high ground to take out the lower force.  After that, we’ll follow the wall again and circle behind the first group we saw.” Everyone nodded. “Keep an eye out for surprises.  Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another reminder, I am looking for guest characters that can appear. If you have a Guardian you would like to see show up in a future chapter, let me know.


	18. Chapter 18

“We should take the Legionary's gun,” Kana said before we could get going.

“Why would we do-” I began, then stopped myself mid-sentence. Of course.

Many Cabal weapons fired mini-rockets armed with armor-piercing warheads. I had just been lamenting our lack of firepower. If we were to gather up some of their weaponry and ammunition, we could cobble together something that could provide the punch our current armaments were lacking. I could have kicked myself for not making the realization on my own, though I knew exactly why the thought never would have crossed my mind. I had once had a similar suggestion get rejected back when I was the kinderguardian.

On one of my first missions with my original team, we were moving against a group of Fallen. We had engaged in a firefight with a squad of them and wiped them out. Everyone started to move on, leaving the bodies and equipment where it lay.

I'd held back, confused that they would just leave potential supplies behind. “Shouldn't we take their guns or something?”

“Why would we do that?'' Donvan had asked. “Didn't do them much good, did they?”

“I don't know,” I shrugged. “It just seemed like it could be useful to have the extra guns and ammo if we needed it.”

“Kid,” he'd said, shaking his head, “I think you played too many video games in your old life.”

Now, however, things were different and we actually needed any supplies or equipment we could get our hands on. There might be a few other lessons I had learned over the decades since then that I might need to unlearn.

“Clever,” I said. “Have your Ghost store it away. We'll do the same for any other Cabal using slug throwers or anything heavier.”

Kana nodded and held out her hand. Della, her Ghost, appeared, shining a beam of light over the dead alien's gun. A moment later, it disappeared. Her job done, Della vanished as well, storing herself away where it was safe.

I considered briefly using the sparrows to approach the next Cabal position, but the noise might give us away. On foot would take a little longer, but the added element of surprise would work in our favor. We just had to hope that no one tried to call the ones we had already killed before we did what we had to do.

We circled around and approached the enemy position on top of the hill we had scouted before. One Cabal and two Psions were there, not looking very alert. We were able to get very close before one of the Psions spotted us. It squawked out a warning before a shot took off the top of its head. The other two aliens turned toward us, and an energy shield of some sort flared to life in the Cabal's hands. This must be one of those strange Phalanxes Celeste's squad reported seeing when we were separated.

The second Psion unleashed a psionic attack that traveled along the ground, tracking toward us. We moved to avoid it, but it ended up catching Dallyce. It erupted under her, bouncing her about two meters into the air.

“What the...?” she shouted. “Again?”

The Psion swung its weapon into position, aiming to shoot her down, but I pulled my trigger first, auto rifle rounds ripping into the creature. It fell dead, and Dallyce landed hard, then scrambled to her feet.

The Phalanx opened fire with its slug rifle. I pivoted and shot back, but it easily deflected my assault with its shield. The Red Legion phalanxes had one obvious advantage over others I had fought in the past, it could actually see through its shield. The metal shield the Cabal on Mars carried were effective, but were completely solid and opaque.

Hunkered behind its energy shield, the Phalanx backed between the two train cars piled under the overhang, trying to keep us from flanking it. It wasn't moving fast enough. Celeste and Tanton had split to either side, and were easily going to get behind it while Kana, Dallyce, and I kept it focused on us. It would have been a short fight, if things had remained as they were.

They did not.

A Centurion suddenly stepped into view behind the Phalanx. I don't know if it had just been behind a wall, inside a structure somewhere, or had transmatted in as a response to the others being attacked, but that didn't matter right now. The only thing that mattered was the massive, multi-barreled cannon it leveled at Tanton. 

The Cabal fired, blasts of Void energy lancing out at the Hunter, who just managed to dodge out of the way. Tanton shot back, and I saw Solar shields flare to life around the Centurion.

“Kana, Dallyce, kill the Phalanx,” I called out, turning my attention to the new enemy.

Tanton and Celeste were already peppering it with fire, the Solar shield keeping the alien protected as it readied its weapon again. Multiple blasts launched from the barrels in the direction of Celeste who took refuge behind a train car. I joined their fight, trying to wear down the shield quickly. When the first of my shots splattered against the solar barrier, the Centurion turned toward me, roaring out something in its guttural language, and pulling the trigger.

As if in slow motion, I saw the mini-rockets emerge from the barrels and brought my arm up, activating the energy barrier for the first time. A translucent wall sprang to life in front of me and the rockets exploded against it, while I stood unfazed. Now I knew how Hive Knights felt.

Cracks appeared in the surface of the shield, showing that it could not sustain many hits like that. Definitely not up to the standard of a Ward, but it would do in a pinch. The Cabal's Solar shield finally hit its own limit, collapsing under the sustained fire of the two Hunters. I heard rounds striking the alien's armor, and it roared again before trying to back away, taking wild shots at both Hunters.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Phalanx's shield collapse, then the alien went down under a hail of bullets. I stepped forward, through my shield, and engaged the Centurion again. It dropped as well, oil leaking from multiple holes in its armored encounter suit.

Dallyce walked over to the corpse of the second Psion and kicked it hard. “I swear by everything bright and shiny, if anything else tries to throw me on this mission, I am going to burn the entire EDZ to the ground.”

Celeste stepped forward and gestured past the train cars. “Just past here, there is a shear drop overlooking the other Phalanx and Psions we saw,” she said. “We take them out, and we will be able to scout most of the area. There was that group of Cabal back closer to where we entered the Sludge, but we should be able to avoid them seeing us without much trouble.”

I nodded. “That would probably be best. We'd be exposed trying to approach that position, I'd like to avoid it if possible. Eliminate the ones down below us, and let's start looking for any sign of the Taken.”

Celeste nodded, then motioned to Tanton. The two Hunters crept to the edge of the rise and had their Ghosts give them their sniper rifles. They fired in unison, then Tanton got off a quick second shot, and the Cabal were neutralized.

“Nice and easy,” Celeste commented.

“Let's hope things stay that way,” I replied. I held out my hand and Elgan materialized. “Start scanning the area, see if you can find anything interesting.”

He bobbed and floated away. The other Ghosts emerged as well and scattered, beams sweeping everywhere they went. Della lagged behind, transmatting the Phalanx's slug rifle and the Centurion's weapon before chasing after the others. If there was something drawing the Taken here, I felt certain they could find it.

“You seemed to have some suspicion about what the Taken might be up to when Devrim showed us that image,” I said, turning to Zillah. “Care to elaborate while we wait?”

“Yes, I have a 'suspicion', but I prefer not to say anything without more information,” she replied.

“You just don't want to say anything and end up being wrong,” Celeste teased. “Typical Warlock.”

Zillah shrugged and responded without even looking in her direction. “No one likes to look the fool. Unless they're Hunters, then it's practically a sport.”

“We just know how to have fun. Except for Tanton here, he's too busy trying to be the silent, mysterious type.”

Tanton made no reply, perhaps proving her point. Zillah just shook her head and muttered something unintelligible.

Tanton certainly didn't fit the free-wheeling, prankster stereotype that so many Hunters seem to fall into. A big part of that was just a result of who their Vanguard was. Cayde-6 was known for his sense of humor and seeming as if he didn't take most things very seriously. He was such a popular and well-liked figure that many Hunters seemed to imitate it, either consciously or unconsciously. It was a facade, of course. Look close enough and you can see that Cayde cares deeply, and I'm sure you could say the same about most of the other Hunters as well.

We settled in to wait, but didn't get to relax for too long before Tanton spoke up.

“Huet found something.”

“Let's go see what it is.”

His Ghost sent out the coordinates to everyone and a marker appeared then on my HUD. Looked like it was along the cliff wall not too far from where we were standing. I slid down the embankment to the ground below. From here, I could see a beam of Light emerging from the little machine, sweeping over something out of view. 

What he had found was a shard of the Traveler. It was hidden in a depression in the rock wall. Something about it didn't seem right. Now that we were all together, each of the Ghosts were taking a turn scanning it.

“It's tainted by the Darkness,” Zillah said. “Probably from off from the main Shard when the Traveler was damaged and ended up here. If we looked hard enough, there are probably pieces like this scattered all through the area. That would explain why Hawthorne thinks the Shard is the reason this places is called a Dead Zone.”

“What do you mean?” Kana asked.

“This shard is leaking energy into the ground. If that was only Light, it would be one thing. With that Darkness blighting it, it may as well be leaking poison into the soul. It isn't good for the life that was in the area. It also tells me why the Taken are here.

“Taken are drawn to the Light. You were just asking me about those threads? They're absorbing the tainted energy from the ground and feeding it into that massive blight.”

Another question from Kana. “Why?”

The Warlock shook her head. “That I couldn't even speculate about yet. Though now I would love to get a good look at it.”

“You'll get your chance,” I told her. “Now that we have an idea of what is going on, I saw we hunker down in that big mining complex up there and wait for the Taken to show.”

Celeste was skeptical. “You mean the biggest, most obvious place in the area?”

I nodded. “I looked through the windows when we passed it. Nothing in there has been disturbed for a very long time. The Cabal, Fallen, and Taken are completely ignoring it.”

“Makes sense for the Cabal and Taken,” Dallyce said. “Surprised the Fallen haven't stripped everything out of this whole region by now, though.”

“Probably too distracted by that,” I replied, tilting my head in the direction of the massive section of the Traveler. Everyone was distracted by that.

We made our way toward the large building. There was no obvious entrance from the lower level, so we had to climb our way back up the cliff. Once there, I broke the lock on the door and we stepped inside.

Tables were covered with the remains of ancient tools and layers of dust. Dust and grime had accumulated on many of the windows as well, making it difficult to see in most directions. We had to choose strategic viewpoints and wipe away just enough to allow us to see out without making it obvious someone had been in there trying to clean the place. There were a few rooms inside, most likely offices, that would allow us to stay out of sight as needed, and an elevator shaft leading to the lower level. The elevator itself had fallen to the bottom and shattered some time in the past.

“One star for cleanliness,” Celeste commented. “Don't think I'll risk the room service.”

“Probably a good choice,” I said. “No telling how long until the Taken decide to show up again. Everyone might as well make yourselves comfortable.”

I took up position by what I considered the main window, looking down over the valley, prepared to wait. Devrim had asked us to find out what the Taken were doing. If Zillah was right, however, and the Taken were feeding tainted Light into something, we needed to do more than just check it out. We needed to stop them. What they could be feeding it to, I had no idea, but saying that it couldn't be good was a massive understatement.

Thinking of the Taken, it was impossible not to consider our last encounter with them on Mars. Impossible not to picture my Ward failing, Baruch dropping to the ground dead, and then being overpowered by the Phalanx. 

Then there was the Warlock, Darcel. 

Footfalls to my right drew my attention from the landscape. Kana stepped up beside me, looking out as well, her face held perfectly neutral.

“So. The Taken,” she said after a few moments of silence.

“Looks that way. You up for it?”

“I don't know.”

I turned fully toward her then, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the wall. Her optics stayed firmly trained on the glass. She was twisting her mark in an apparent nervous gesture.

“We've been so busy since we left Mars that it was easy to not think about what happened,” she said eventually. “I could forget about the fight, not think too much about Baruch.”

“I was just thinking about the same thing,” I told her.

She turned from the window and focused her yellow optics on me. “How do you do it? We have faced Fallen and Cabal since, but it's different. On a certain level, I know they have both taken so much from us, but I never actually saw that. The Taken killed my friend. They nearly killed us. How do you get past that and keep going?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes.”

I knew my answer wasn't going to be very helpful, but I had to offer it anyway. “You don't. You don't get past it. Or, at least, I never figured out how. Other people could probably tell you better, show you how to harness pain or fear, or turn it to anger. The way I see it is you just push through and do what needs to be done anyway. Even if every voice in your head is screaming that you can't do it, and that you have to turn back, you just keep pushing through because you have to. The alternative is death. Often literally. Eventually, I suppose, it gets a little easier to drown out the voices, but I've never found a way to get them to go away completely.”

She nodded. “I understand.”

“If you feel like you can't do it, I wouldn't hold it against you,” I said. “Most Guardians don't have to deal with permanently losing a fireteam member on their first real mission. Shoot, there are some Guardians who have been around decades and never had to deal with that, and the ones who did were ever as vulnerable afterward as we are now. You can stay here, provide over-watch while the rest of us get closer. There's no shame in it.”

“No,” she shook her head, posture straightening almost imperceptibly. “I need to go down there. For myself and for Baruch.”

It was my turn to nod and offer back the response she had given me, “I understand.”

I turned my attention back to the valley. Kana stayed at my side, watching and waiting with me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had a couple quick updates there, then this one took forever. Combination illness, depression, and being unhappy with the way the last chapter turned out. I couldn't get past the desire to go back and fix it long enough to be able to put words to the page. I actually had a whole page written for weeks, but couldn't push through. Finally managed, though chapter 17 will be getting a big overhaul at some point.
> 
> There were two Iron Banners in there as well, and the first ever Revelry. So... yeah.
> 
> On a side note, we got a new keyboard. One of those wireless ones. I hate it. Have to erase SO MANY extra spaces or letters that randomly interject themselves.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

 

The Taken did not oblige and show up that day. Figures the one time we actually want to see them they stay away. It wasn't a total loss, though. It gave us some time to tinker.

Tanton took over the watch, and I motioned to Kana. Della deposited the Cabal weaponry that we had scavenged in the middle of the room. Everyone else gathered around, looking at the small haul. I picked up a slug rifle and examined it carefully, taking in its design and feeling the weight of it. I set it down and Elgan emerged, sweeping it with a scanning beam, while I shuffled over and picked up the larger cannon the Centurion had been holding, lifting it with both hands.

The gun's silhouette looked vaguely like a fat crossbow. There were five barrels in a line across the front of the weapon, and I could see a power source glowing inside it. The underside had places to hold it with both hands, though the Centurion we had seen was wielding it with just one. Strong space turtle.

Once Elgan was done looking at the slug rifle, I held out the other gun in his direction. He swept a beam over it as well.

“A few surviving Guardians have been able to upload some information about the Red Legion,” he said. “This is known as a Bronto Cannon, used exclusively by Centurions.”

“And it's going to stay that way,” I said, setting it back down. “Too cumbersome to use as is. Let's go ahead and start breaking all this down and see what we can come up with.”

We started stripping down the Cabal armaments. It wasn't all that different from field stripping our own weaponry. If anything, it was a little easier as each component was larger than anything that came from City foundries. Cabal have fat fingers. The Ghosts began etching out weapon schematics, and we arranged parts in ways that we might be able to fit together. Everyone seemed to have suggestions on how we could utilize each part. We took turns looking over everything while eating ration bars and alternating watch. Eventually, it became apparent that we were going to need some other pieces to make something that worked for us.

“Elgan, give me my Zombie Apocalypse.”

He transmatted in the heavy machine gun, and I took it apart. Seeing what I was doing and knowing we might need a few other triggers, handles, and the like, Celeste and Dallyce offered up weaponry they could no longer use either. These were soon in pieces along with everything else, increasing our options. The Ghosts worked the newly available parts into their plans, and came up with some workable options, and we all agreed on a couple designs.

From there, it was a matter of piecing it all back together. We had no tools tools to rely on, so we had to be creative in connecting some pieces and lashing others together. At one point, something needed to be welded together. If we'd had the Light, Tanton could have used his Solar abilities to maybe make up for not having the equipment, but that wasn't an option. After a few experiments, however, we found a solution, though it was a slow process. All of the Ghosts worked together, focusing their beams as tightly as they could on one precise point. Their combined efforts managed to do the trick, melting and fusing the metal pieces together.

When we were finished, we had three viable weapons. Two were identical, and mostly composed of slug rifle parts. We opted for a double-barreled design, allowing two of the microrockets to fire simultaneously. This still wouldn’t pack quite the same punch as a traditional rocket launcher, but it would definitely make an impact. The clips for the rockets were placed so that they swept up and away from the body of the gun, giving it a winged look. There was some argument about what to call them, but since they were kind of ugly and made from scavenged parts, Vulture ended up being a term that stuck. Not quite a fancy enough name for Celeste, the final name for them ended up being Vulture Memento.

The third weapon was made primarily from the bronto cannon. We took three of the five barrels and strapped them together. Once we had cracked the cannon open, we found that the power source was a generator that used Void energy. We made sure to include that in the new weapon as well. Utilizing components from the Zombie Apocalypse, we were able to make a weapon that worked as a slow rate-of-fire heavy machine gun that fired Void projectiles. Due to its use of the Void despite us having lost our Light, Celeste dubbed it The Light Defiant.

Having three guns that we could legitimately consider heavy weaponry made me feel a little more comfortable being out here, even if we were going to be careful how often we used them. The Light Defiant would generate its own ammunition, the only limitation would be how long it took to charge. To keep the Vulture Memento’s loaded, we would have to scavenge clips from other Cabal we ran into, with just seemed to make the name more fitting. It was decided that the Titans would carry the guns, and I was quick to put a claim on The Light Defiant, as I had always preferred machine guns.

Between arriving at the EDZ, fighting the Fallen, fighting the Cabal, and working on the weapons, we’d spent a lot of time and energy. I didn’t want the team to be too worn down whenever the Taken did decide to show their twitchy faces. We set up shifts for the watch. I assigned myself to go first so that everyone else could try to get some rest. Tanton took a spot in a corner under one of the old workbenches, rolling his cloak up and putting it under his head for a pillow. Dallyce, Celeste, and Kana each disappeared into the suspected offices. I stood at the window looking down into the valley, and, just like last time, felt someone step up beside me.

“Once again a mission with you involves having to sleep on the floor in a broken down building,” Zillah commented. “Didn’t I tell you before that I wasn’t a fan of that?”

“Whenever we see the Taken,” I replied, “I’ll be sure to request that they only attack places with top of the line lodging in the future.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Any other requests while we’re at it?”

“I’m sure I could come up with a full list.” She cleared her throat, “Dear Taken, I will only agree to fight you under the following conditions…”

I smirked. “Who knew hanging out with a bunch of pacifists would turn you into such a diva?”

Zillah turned her back to the window. She shifted, sliding up to sit on the table, legs dangling. “Well, you know how it goes. I’ve grown accustomed to a certain quality of life.”

“If they don’t meet your demands, does that mean you won’t be joining us in the future? I believe that was the threat made last time we had to camp out overnight.”

“We’ll see,” she said. A moment passed, then she continued. “Hey, Claney?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for letting me ‘tag along’ as you put it.”

I nodded, turning to face her, noticing how bright her eyes shone in the night, seeing the faint traces of light that played along her skin. “Of course. You’re part of the team.”

“Right,” she said, tilting her head to the side, a sarcastic note in her voice.

“There wouldn’t be a fireteam if it wasn’t for you. ‘Face it, Titan, you just started yourself a fireteam.’ Sound familiar? I even left a spot for you, in case you came back.”

“What do you mean? You have six.”

“Count again,” I said, ticking off names on my fingers. “There’s me, Celeste, Kana, Tanton, and we had Baruch.”

“What about Scott?”

“Scott wasn’t really part of the fireteam. We included him in certain things, and his name might have been on the official roster to show we had six so the Vanguard wouldn’t saddle us with someone else, but after the SIVA incident, Scott had no interest in going out into the field. Guess getting shot in the head in the replication chamber left some psychological scars. Couldn’t even get him to join us in the Crucible, Astrid always took our sixth spot. He did research and gathered information for us, but our field team had a spot reserved.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Like I said, there wouldn’t even be a team without your suggestion,” I shrugged. “And, deep down, I kept hoping you would come back.”

She stared at me then, as if trying to read something in my face, then turned to look out the window. We fell silent then, but it was a comfortable silence this time, the first since her return. I would have been content to stay that way longer, but I wanted everyone at their best when we needed to be.

“You should probably go rest as well,” I told her. 

She nodded and slipped down from the table. “Make sure you take your own advice and wake the next person when it’s time.”

Reaching up, she patted my arm lightly before walking off and disappearing into the darkness. I glanced back as she walked away, then turned back to the glass. I had gotten too dark out to see much with my own eyes, so I put my helmet back on and had Elgan feed me data from scans.

“You should probably just sleep and let me handle this,” he said. “I’m the one doing all the work anyway.”

“And miss out on all this excitement?”

He let out an electronic noise that was a good approximation of a snort of derision. “An owl just killed a small animal of some kind nearby. Otherwise, not much else moving out there.”

“That’s a good thing right now. Most of our enemies seem to have the advantage on us in the dark. Especially the Taken. Can’t imagine trying to spot and actually hit one of them with it being pitch black out there.”

Audio of a heavily accented woman’s voice began playing. I recognized it from an pre-Golden Age recording we had come across years ago. “Well, the thing about a black hole - its main distinguishing feature - is it’s black. And the thing about space, the colour of space, your basic space colour, is black. So how are you supposed to see them?”

I laughed. “Exactly.”

The rest of the time passed quickly, and then I went to wake Celeste. She yawned and stretched with a groan before getting up and shuffling over to the window. I dropped down to the ground where she had been laying, and sleep claimed me quickly.

…

I was running through an open field. No, not an open field, a depression of some sort that led to a cement structure. Some sort of drainage system. I could see three concrete tunnels running into the ground. From there, a thinner version of the depression ran into the distance. I was suddenly certain it was a dry creek bed.

Running as fast as I could, it still took me some time to cross to the drainage pipes. Why were my legs so short? Something or someone was chasing me, but I wasn’t afraid. I was laughing, both wanting and not wanting whoever was behind me to catch up. The other side of the depression was getting closer. I was going to get there first! Then my foot caught on something in the ground, a rock or thick plant, and I fell hard.

My knee hit first and I rolled and tumbled forward. When I came to a stop, I grabbed my knee, feeling the throbbing pain. The person who had been chasing me caught up then, coming to a stop and dropping to one knee. Delicate hands reached out to move my own and allow her, I knew without looking now that it was a her, to see what was wrong.

“Let me see, Claney,” she said. “There’s no blood. How badly does it hurt?”

“A lot,” I said, looking up at the woman. Her shoulder-length sandy blonde hair hung forward as she looked down at me.

“Let’s get you home then,” my mother said, then lifted me off the ground.

...

I woke with a start, arms flailing outward. My palms struck the floor, grounding me back in reality, and I sat there, very conscious of my own breathing. I tried to grab at the dream, whatever had left me feeling this way, but it was fading rapidly. I didn’t hear voices, so I assumed most everyone else must still be down. I shook off the last bit of sleep and the dream, then stepped out of the office. 

Dallyce was manning the watch now, and gave a little wave. I returned the gesture, making my way over to her. Looking outside, the beginnings of dawn were just starting to creep into the sky.

“Morning,” she said as I drew close. “Well, mostly.”

“Good morning. No one else up yet?”

“Well, blondie over there,” she gestured toward Tanton, “woke up for a minute, and paced by the door before laying back down. Don’t you know you have to let your Hunters out at night before bed?”

“Guess I forgot. You know how it is, you get in a new place, get thrown off schedule.”

She gave one of her crooked smiles at that, then nodded toward the window. “Looks like it’s going to be a nice day out. Perfect Taken hunting weather.”

“Well, let’s hope they show their spooky faces, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. Hopefully they haven’t figured out some new method of launching people randomly into the air.”

“At least the Cabal one was just a little toss.”

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “I have to admit, when that Servitor transmatted me into the air, I thought I was done for. Thank the Traveler for making us strong, huh?”

“That and the fact that our Ghosts can still heal.”

“Yeah.” She paused before continuing. “Oh, and, uh… sorry about the ‘Big Red’ thing.”

I felt my face get hot and was grateful it was still mostly dark. “No worries. Like I said, you were in a lot of pain at the time. Easy to let things slip out we don’t want to or don’t mean.”

“Next time I’ll be sure to keep it private.” 

With that, she slapped my chest and walked back into the room. I stood blinking for a few seconds before turning around, at a loss. Beyond her, I could see that Kana had emerged from her room. I made my way back to the offices, checking them until I found Celeste and reached down to slap her foot.

“Wakey, wakey,” I said.

I turned back to the room and saw Tanton slipping from beneath the table he’d been sleeping under. Zillah emerged shortly after, stretching and looking like she was trying to work a stiff spot out of her back. We just had to wait for Celeste. I was about to go back in and try again when she shuffled her way out.

“Good mo-” I began, but was interrupted by Elgan’s voice in my head and a burst of static over communication lines.

“Taken corruption detected!” Elgan shouted to me.

At the same time, Devrim Kay’s voice followed the burst of static, “Painted Truth, are you there? I’m detecting aberrations in reality. You know what that means.”

I rushed back to the window and saw what Elgan and Devrim had both been warning us about. Near the half buried silo, a rift was opened in the air. Energy poured down from the rift, and the space below it seemed to warp. There was a sudden flash, the rift vanished, and a massive Blight took shape. Around the base of it, smaller Blights appeared, with bubbles similar to my Ward of Dawn enveloping them.

Taken. Finally.

“Team, on me,” I said as my helmet materialized around my head. I held out my hand and the auto rifle I’d bought at the Farm appeared.

We stepped out into the early morning light, moving quickly so that the Taken didn’t get away. I didn’t dare risk jumping down from here without the Light, but there had been a place I’d noticed where the wall wasn’t quite as steep. I headed there and hopped over the edge, landing on my feet and skidding downward, kicking up an unfortunate amount of dust. That seemed to give me away to the Taken, as a shot fired by a Taken struck the wall above me and to the left. Beyond it, I saw the darkened Light beginning to stream from the small Blights to the larger.

Once I was on the ground, I brought my weapon up and returned fired. Bullets struck the shadow form and it melted away. More of the Taken stood under the bubble, though, Cabal Psions and Phalanxes. As I approached, one of the Taken Psions shuddered and then divided in two, each going in opposite directions to fire from different angles.

I watched them both, firing as soon as one emerged from the bubble. This time I managed to strike the white mark that all Taken bore on their foreheads and, instead of melting away like the other, this one seemed to be sucked into a vortex accompanied by a screaming sound. The second one stayed inside inside the bubble with the other Taken, so I turned my attention to the large Blight.

This close, I could see that it was surrounded by some sort of shield itself. I fired a few experimental rounds at it, but couldn’t see that they did any good.

“No effect,” I head Elgan say in my head. I hate being right sometimes.

“Any ideas?”

“Other than just shoot the Taken?”

“Ideally, yes.”

“Not at the moment. I need more information.”

Great. “Well, pay attention then.”

The majority of the Taken were still inside the bubbles. To get to them, we were going to have to go in. Slightly dangerous when you could be resurrected. Foolhardy if you could not. Guess it was time to do something dumb.

“I’m going to charge into this nearest group,” I said to the team. “See if I can’t flush them out of cover. Be ready to respond if it does.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Celeste asked.

“Then someone else come up with a smarter plan.”

“Please remember that I can heal you but not revive you,” Elgan said.

“I know. Please be ready to heal fast, I think this is going to hurt a lot,” I told him before addressing the team channel again. “Someone shoot the bubble and distract them, please.”

Several shots fired then, striking the bubble to the left of my position. Once the majority of the Taken turned their faces that way, I sprinted toward them. A Phalanx-thing noticed me and raised it’s shield, prepared to fire. I charged right at it. 

I hit the bubble and passed through easily, dropping into a baseball slide. The Taken fired an energy blast that sailed harmlessly overhead. I slid past the possessed alien to its right, slipping past its shield and pointing my rifle upward, opening fire. The former Cabal dissolved as the rounds punched through it.

I was unable to avoid the second Phalanx, however.

The other Taken had adjusted its aim to match my trajectory, the blast from its shield slamming into me before I could react, sending me tumbling away from it. When I was able to regain control, I took in a painful breath and scrambled to my feet. The alien charged to finish the job, but as soon as it left the protection of the force field, a shot from a sniper rifle tore through its head and it disappeared.

“We’ve got something on us,” Elgan said. “Some sort of essence from the Blight, but it is receding rapidly.”

An idea formed in my head then, but I would have to test it out. I strode back into the bubble, shooting the other Psion-thing that was hiding in there.

“Detecting it again?”

“Yes.”

I stepped back into the open, raised my weapon and fired at the large Blight.

“Damage,” Elgan said, sounding surprised. “Of course. The Taken are able to pass through things they make. Like the portals. The portal has to think you are Taken or an Ascendant Hive to let you through. These Blights here are leaking so much energy to feed that thing that it gets on you and, at least briefly, it makes the larger Blight think you’re Taken.”

To everyone, I said, “If you step into the bubbles, you can hurt the Blight for a little while afterward. Let’s see what happens if we shoot it enough.”

I repeated the process, inflicting more damage on the large orb. When I went in a third time, I heard the unmistakable sound of Taken emerging. The air nearby began to distort as more of the creatures began appearing.

“Incoming.”

“Yeah, yeah, we can see them too,” Dallyce replied. 

The words were following by yell as she punched the enemy nearest her into oblivion. I did the same to a Taken Fallen Vandal that appeared beside me and tried to put a bubble shield inside the other bubble. Not quite sure what it had hoped to accomplish there.

“Something weird just happened,” Kana called out. I turned to see what she was talking about, and the Blight was gone. Suddenly the smaller Blights, shields, and all Taken forces vanished as well.

“Was that it?” Celeste asked. “Because, that was a little anticlimactic.”

“No,” Elgan replied. “I’m picking up Taken energy just north-east of us.”

We should have realized it wouldn’t be that easy. The Taken were here for the Light energy, they weren’t going to just up and leave because someone put up a little resistance. They hadn’t even moved that far. The Blight now hovered near that slim canyon that the water trickled through, where Celeste and Tanton had sniped some Cabal yesterday right before we found the corrupted fragment. The other Blights had reappeared, and now the Taken had additional troops, including a Hive Wizard and a Fallen Captain.

“I’ll take the Captain,” I said. “Someone get the Wizard, and everyone else focus on that Blight. We need to see if we can kill that thing.”

I approached the Taken Captain, weapon at the ready. Like all Taken, it still looked like what it had been, though now was something other resembling a living shadow or negative image. The thing facing me now was on the big side for a Captain. It must have been working its way up the ranks before falling under sway or Oryx or whoever controlled the Taken now. 

The Taken shuddered and then teleported to the left. I fired at it, but the bullets spattered harmlessly against a Solar shield. The Captain made an inarticulate sound, then reared back, and gathered an orb of pure Darkness that struck me full on, blinding me. The effect was temporary, but the Taken took full advantage of it.

When the orb hit, I instinctively raised my arms to protect myself. This act saved my life, as the Captain must have teleported again to get close. I suddenly felt the bite of twin Arc blades slamming into my raised forearms. I clenched my teeth to keep from crying out and lashed out with my foot, kicking the Fallen in its midsection, staggering it.

“Elgan, give me the Light Defiant,” I thought. 

I dropped the auto rifle and held out my hands. Elgan transmatted the makeshift weapon into them. My vision was still limited, but I could see the Captain now. I pulled the trigger, the four barrels began spinning, and I heard the power source rev up. A split second later, volleys of Void energy began firing at the Fallen, striking its shields. It wasn’t as effective as a Solar weapon would have been, but the energy blasts brought it down a whole lot faster than the rifle would have. Once the shield drop, it only took a few more shots before the Captain melted away.

I didn’t have much time to catch my breath before Kana called out, “It’s getting weird again.”

She had been shooting the Blight, which was not beginning to fluctuate. There was a blinding flash, and then the Blight disappeared. Something appeared beneath it. I turned to see what new thing the Taken were going to throw at us, and was stunned.

What had appeared beneath the Blight was Darcel Bellamy, and he was now Taken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AO3 - Thanks to DashAradele and NetRaptor for the kudos, and NetRaptor for all the recent feedback!
> 
> The audio recording Elgan plays about black holes and space comes from an episode of Red Dwarf, specifically Season (series) 3, Episode 2, Marooned. Holly is explaining how their ship was about to run into multiple black holes at the same time without being able to detect them earlier.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 

“That looks like a Taken Warlock.  Why does that look like a Taken Warlock?” Dallyce asked.

“Because it is,” I replied.

“Why do you not sound surprised by that?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

The shape of what used to be Warlock Darcel Bellamy stood below where the large Blight had been.  His entire body twitched and spasmed, and tendrils of smoke drifted up from his head and shoulders.  His armor and skin had lost their original color, now solid black on his head, minus the white oval covering his face, transition through shades until reaching white at his feet.  He looked somehow less solid than other Taken though, seeming to flicker from time to time, like a signal that wasn’t coming quite through. Each time he did, the expression on his face shifted, alternating between anger, joy, and fear.

“What is happening to him?” I asked Elgan.

“I don’t know,” the Ghost replied.  “It seems like he came out of the Blight when we cracked it open.  We know from Eris that that isn’t the process of Taking. Maybe the Taken were doing something extra to him in there with the tainted Light, and we interrupted the process.”

“So… he’s not quite fully cooked yet?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

The Taken Warlock’s head turned as if he were scanning the battlefield, then he held out his hands and floated up off the ground, hovering the same way a Hive Wizard did.  Near the smaller Blights, more Taken began to appear. Then I heard a voice in my head, bringing with it a lance of pain.

“You.  I know you.  Murderer. Assassin!”

“How is he in my head?” I asked Elgan, wincing.

“No clue, but I will try to keep him out.”

“Please do.”

“Any thoughts, Old Man?” Celeste called out.

“I’ve got a few,” I said through clenched teeth.  “Celeste, Tanton, and Zillah, target the other Taken, keep them occupied.  Dallyce, Kana and I will focus on Darcel. Use heavy, take him down quick, then we’ll join in mopping up the others.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dallyce said, and I saw her take hold of her Vulture Memento, quickly bringing it to bear and firing at the Warlock.  Twin mini-rockets leapt out of the double barrels, racing toward the target, then exploded against a solar shield.

Should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

Shields are an inconvenience, but they can be brought down, and we had enough firepower to do that quickly.  The biggest issue when dealing with an enemy protected by shields is that you have to focus on that foe to bring them down, while they usually have friends shooting at you as well to stop that from happening.  With our Warlock and two Hunters handling the other Taken, that shouldn’t be a problem. 

Kana took her shot, and Dallyce was already firing a second volley at the Taken Warlock.  Bellamy dropped his hands then raised them quickly and everything… shifted. It felt like the world suddenly spun around me and I fell to my hands and knees, dropping my gun, as a powerful wave of vertigo washed over me.  From there, I saw the projectiles spin off in different directions, tumbling end over end, striking the ground in random places. Kana and Dallyce were down as well.

I tried to shake my head clear, fighting back nausea.  Rising to my feet, I scooped up the Light Defiant and let loose a burst of Void rounds.  Bellamy flickered out of existence and the shots passed harmlessly through where he had been.  He reappeared to the right and made another gesture with his hand. A shadow fell across me and I looked back just in time to see a section of the rock wall collapse on me.

It sounded like someone shouted my name, but I couldn’t be certain who, from where, or if it actually happened.  The weight of the rocks pinned me down, but it hadn’t been enough to crush me. I pushed against the ground and felt a sharp pain lance through my right arm.

“It’s broken,” Elgan said in my head.  “Hang on.”

All around me I could still hear the sounds of battle going on.  The pain abated, and I tried again. I felt the rocks shift and fall away, and I clambered to my feet, digging through the rubble to find my gun.  Grasping it, I stood, prepared to rejoin the battle.

Kana-4 fired again at Darcel.  The rockets vanished halfway between her and the Warlock, then reappeared now flying directly at Dallyce, exploding on the ground at her feet as she tried to dodge them.  Before she could get up, tree roots burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around her wrists and ankles, yanking her down. Kana’s weapon was then ripped out of her hand by an invisible force and flung to the side.

Darcel drew his hand back, then flung it forward, launching something at Kana-4 that looked like the odd Nova Bomb he had thrown at me and Baruch back on Mars.  The Exo Titan grabbed her auto rifle from her back and opened fire at the orb while retreating. It split then into multiple projectiles that tracked. Each time she shot one of those, it split into even smaller energy balls.  Just before they hit, she activated her barricade, and they exploded against it. The barricade seemed to take the brunt of the blast, but Kana was still sent flying backward.

I gripped the Light Defiant and pulled the trigger.  Void energy splashed against the former Warlock’s Solar shields, drawing his attention back to me.  He drew in a deep breath and let out a piercing shriek that seemed to shatter the air between us. It looked like I was surrounded by broken glass, everything was jagged edges and angular shapes.  My mind couldn’t process what it was looking at.

I spun around, trying to find a clear line of sight to anything or anyone.  Moving my head caused the colors to shift and twist, making the entire world into a giant kaleidoscope.  This lead to another round of vertigo, driving me down to my knees again.

Bellamy’s voice sounded in my head again, the words somehow striking a physical blow with each syllable, “Liar!  Murderer! Failure! Assassin!” As he spoke, each glass fragment began to display an image, and each image was calling out to me, telling me how I had failed them through the years.

Baruch’s face was first, his blue skin shriveled and desiccated, accusing me of failing him and leading him to his death, asking how I could have left him to rot on Mars.  Donvan, saying it was my fault that he, Sen, Kado, and Sarai were dead, that if he hadn’t tried to save me they would all have survived and would have done much more for the Traveler than I ever did.  Scott-20 and Astrid asking how I could have left them behind to die when the Cabal attacked the City. Refugees I failed to save, other Guardians I’d met over the years, all shouting over each other, with Bellamy’s voice driving them on.

I shut my eyes and tried to clamp my hands over my ears, but my helmet was in the way.  It wouldn’t have helped anyway, the voices screaming inside my head. Every doubt and insecurity that I’d ever had played at top volume in my head and there was no escaping it.

“Elgan!” I called, desperately hoping the Ghost could block it somehow, but then I felt him screaming through our connection as well.  Whatever was happening was affecting him as much as me.

Suddenly, there was a crack of a sniper rifle, and the glass images dropped and shattered on the hard earth.  The voices silenced, aside from Elgan’s scream. I could see that Darcel was still hovering, but was now slumped as if wounded.  He straightened up and looked around, and a second report sounded, striking his leg. His shield was down! 

I gathered my strength and launched myself from the kneeling position, sprinting toward him, hoping to reach my target before he could react.  He heard me coming and turned, but he was too slow. I slammed full-force into him, my shoulder in his stomach, driving him hard into the ground beneath me.  The blow seemed to stun him and leave him gasping for air. I needed to finish this before he recovered.

I balled up my fist and struck him as hard at I could and heard something crack.  Again. And again. The fourth blow struck the white oval of his face directly and I felt something give way.  His form collapsed in on itself, disappearing from beneath me with a shriek. Around me, the Blights suddenly blinked out of existence and all signs of the Taken vanished with them.

I yanked off my helmet and spat on the ground where he had been.  “That’s how you throw a punch, you Light-forsaken worm-licker.”

I jammed my helmet against the ground, pushing against it to get back to my feet.  I stood there, feeling a series of emotions washing over me. Relief. Bitterness. Shame.  Satisfaction. Anger. An inarticulate sound I didn’t recognize escaped my throat and I threw my helmet down hard.  It bounced and then skittered away.

I noticed then that Elgan’s screaming had stopped.  I couldn’t hear anything from him now.

“Elgan?  Elgan, talk to me.”

When he answered, his voice was strained.  “I’m here, Guardian.”

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see my daughter.  She’d removed her helmet as well, and I could see the concern in her eyes.  

“You okay, Old Man?”

I reached up to put my head on hers.  “Yeah, Kiddo, I’ll be fine.”

I took in a deep breath and released it.  Stepping over to where it had landed, I picked up my now dented helmet and brushed off some dirt.  We’d finally completed the mission that the Speaker had assigned us, just not in the way we would have expected, and one person wasn’t here to see the end of it.

“Nice work with the sniper rifle,” I said.  “Who was it, Celeste or Tanton.”

“Not me,” Tanton replied.

“I didn’t do it either,” said Celeste.

I blinked in surprise at that.  “If not you two, then who?”

“Over there,” Zillah stated, pointing west of us.  I followed her gesture to see a figure with a cloak climbing down the rock wall near the place we’d had our first engagement with the Red Legion yesterday.  The person quickly scuttled half way, then jumped the rest of the way to the ground.

“Who is that?” Celeste asked.

“Only one way to find out,” I said.  “Elgan, is it a Guardian? Can you raise them or their Ghost?”

“Trying.”  A pause. “Yes, a Guardian, Hunter by the name of Madrid.  His Ghost’s name is Rose; she seems nice, if hesitant to talk.  Line’s open.”

“Thanks,” I told him.  I put my helmet on to communicate, then addressed the newcomer who was drawing closer, “Guardian Madrid?”

“Yes,” came the reply.  “Rose tells me that your name is Claney.”

“Yes.  I’m told you were the one who took the shot that broke the Taken’s shields.  Thanks for the assist.”

By now, the Hunter had reached our position.  He was tall for a Hunter, topping six feet. He wore brown clothes with a few yellow armor highlights, and his cloak was tattered and worn. I noticed Celeste glancing from him to Tanton, as if sizing them both up.  Tanton crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. She held her hand up in the air just above her head, parallel to the ground, then slowly lowered it several inches.

“Of course,” Madrid replied.  “I was on patrol nearby when I  picked up radio chatter about Taken in the area.  Came to investigate and found you. Looked like you needed an assist.”

“Well, we’re glad you did.  Good thing another Hunter was in the area,” Celeste said, shooting a mischievous grin at Zillah with the last statement.

“What was that thing?” Madrid asked.  “I’ve never seen a Taken that looked or acted that way before.”

“That thing,” I answered, “used to be a Warlock by the name of Darcel Bellamy.  

“A Warlock?  I’ve never heard of a Guardian being Taken before.”

“We were actually on a mission to locate him when we lost our Light.  He’d been studying the Taken, working with them. Without his Light to protect him, I guess they decided they had other uses for him.”

“I see.  One more threat to have to watch for.”

“So, what were you out looking for?” Celeste asked.  While the two Hunters talked, I noticed Kana was not standing with us.

“Elgan, Kana’s missing.  Ping Della,” I said privately.

He did and a marker appeared on my HUD.  I recalled that the last time I had seen her was just before the swarm of orbs had exploded near her.  Concern filled me then.

“Kana?” I called out.  No response. I sprinted over to the position Elgan had indicated and found her sprawled out on the ground, her Ghost frantically pumping healing energy into her, her right arm and left leg were not currently attached to her body.  I held out my hand to summon Elgan. When he appeared I told him, “Help Della!”

I gathered up the detached limbs and walked over to the body, fearing the worst.  I felt some relief when the Exo turned her head to look at me.

“Oh, hey, Claney,” she said weakly.  “Just… just give me a minute to put myself back together.  Literally.”

I placed the arm and leg approximately where they belonged, and Della bobbed a nod at me.  A third Ghost appeared, pouring Light into Della to assist the Ghost with its task. I recognized Fievel and glanced over to see that Zillah had walked up quietly.

“Dallyce and the Hunters were talking shop,” the Warlock said, “but when I saw you take off this way, I figured I would see if you or someone else needed help.”

“Thanks.  Kana took a bad hit in the fight, but I think she’ll be alright.”

“I know we have an infirmary at the Farm.  Was there anyone skilled in Exo repair? Might not hurt to have someone else take a look when we get back there.”

“I’m not sure, actually,” I said.  “I’d imagine someone would know. We’ll look into it.”

The others noticed our absence once Madrid returned to his patrol and made their way to us as well.  By then, the Ghosts had mostly finished up and Kana was picking herself up off the ground, testing the reattached leg.  

“Elgan, is the line still open to Devrim?”

“Yes,” the Ghost answered.

“Put me through to him please.”  I heard a click. “Devrim?”

“Yes.  Is this Claney with Painted Truth?”

“Yeah, it’s us,” I said.  “We found your Taken. Killed a bunch of them.  Where can we find you to tell you about it?”

“I’m still in my home away from home.”

“Gotcha.  We’ll be there soon.  Claney out.”

“I’ll be sure to put some tea on,” he said as the line switched off.

“Let’s get going,” I told the team.  “We should probably have each Ghost share their data.  There was a lot going on there, and we want to piece together the full story.”

We summoned our sparrows and set off for the old church where we had met the scout before.  The pace was more cautious this time, not wanting to run into a group of Fallen again. Fortunately, the path was clear.  We followed the broken road and trail back through the countryside until we reached our goal. Once there we climbed off the sparrows and our Ghosts stored them away.  We stepped through the broken wall and ascended the rickety stairs to find Devrim waiting.

“Greetings, Guardians.  Good to see you again.”

“Glad to have made it back.”

“So, you said you were successful in hunting down the Taken.  How did it go?”

I told Devrim everything that had happened since we left him earlier.  The fight with the Fallen, taking out some Cabal, the encounter with the Taken.  He listened intently, interrupting once to offer tea when it was ready. Zillah took him up on the offer.  For the final confrontation, everyone had pieces of information to add, as Darcel had messed with each of us in different ways.  As I had suggested earlier, each Ghost passed along their recordings of the incident for him to study.

“That’s quite the story,” he said when we were finished.  “Glad I called in Guardians to deal with them, rather than just leaving it to my scouts.  I’ll be sure to do so again if the Taken return.”

“I’d almost guarantee they will,” Zillah said, taking a sip from her cup.  “The Taken are drawn to the Light. As long as there is any left in the soil, they will come for it.”

“How reassuring,” Devrim deadpanned.

“That’s what we do,” Celeste quipped, “gallivant across the worlds, spreading cheer and good news.”

“Well, you may need to work on your delivery.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” I said.  “Do you have anything else you need help with right now?  If not, we’re going to head back to the Farm.”

“No, I don’t suppose I do at the moment.  If something comes up though, I know who to call.  And, uh, do say hello to Suraya for me, would you?”

I nodded.  “Will do. Oh, by the way, we ran into a Hunter named Madrid out there, helped us out with the Taken.  Might want to keep an ear out for him.”

“Ah, yes, Madrid.  A very resourceful Hunter and excellent scout.  He’s been quite the help as well.”

Zillah set down her cup of tea.  “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Devrim.”

“Likewise, Guardians.  Do keep in touch.”

With that, we bid our leave and had our Ghosts transmat us to our ships.  I found myself alone and surrounded by the familiar confines of the Lost Days.  I removed my helmet and took in a deep breath before settling into the pilot’s seat.  I plotted out a course for the Farm, then we set off. I actually thought of it as heading home for a moment, which surprised me.

“What happened back there?” Elgan asked me once we were on our way.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when Jaeger tried to kill us, when we did kill him, afterward, you placed his knife at the memorial for the lost.  You showed him respect.”

“I recall.”

“Yet when we fought Bellamy just now, your reaction was very different.  I’m no expert on these things, but I’m pretty sure that spitting on someone, even symbolically, is the exact opposite of respect.  Why so different?”

I thought about that for a while.  It wasn’t an easy question to answer.  In fact, I was quiet for so long that Elgan looked like he was going to speak again and I had to stop him.

“I guess,” I began, “part of it is intent.  Jaeger was pushed by whatever had happened to him with the War Cult, and then SIVA took control of him.  I can’t hold him entirely accountable for his actions, and we only killed him because he was posed a major threat to a lot more than just me or the team.  When Bellamy started messing with the Taken in violation of Vanguard protocol, he was in full control, and he was still himself when Baruch died.

“The fact that we were sent after Bellamy for the violation was... distasteful, to put it mildly.  Some of it might have just been a response to the situation as much as him. I hope to never be given an assignment like that again.”

“And the other part?”

“Heat of the moment?” I offered with a shrug.  “That and the sound of you screaming in my head from whatever he was doing to you.”

He shuddered at the memory, then stared at me, his shell twisting in thought.

“What?”

“In all the years we’ve been together, I’ve rarely seen anything like that out of you.  We have been without the Light for a while now. I wonder if it is having an effect on you.”

“Well,” I said, “there has been one thing.”

He was instantly alert.  “What?”

“I think… I think I’ve been remembering things.  From my old life. It’s happened a couple times now.  When we left the Farm to help the Refugees, I had a brief flash of being a kid on a swing, and since then I’ve had a few dreams.  I can never remember it well once I wake up, but I’m pretty sure the other night I dreamed about... someone important.”

“It isn’t unheard of to regain some memories,” the Ghost replied.  “Many Guardians have reported remembering things when they died. There’s a whole Warlock sect devoted to the study of it.”

“I know that.  These are just… never mind.  Don’t worry about it, we’re here.”

We dropped speed as we approached the Farm, flying in low.  I transmatted down near the large barn and waited for Elgan to join me after he docked the ship.  The rest of the team began transmatting in as well, and I looked to make sure everyone was accounted for.  When my eyes met Zillah’s, hers narrowed and her head tilted slightly as if she saw something confusing.

“I’ll go update Hawthorne and pass along Devrim’s message,” I said.  “Everyone else, go relax. Find something to eat, rest, shower, play soccer, or whatever.  You’re off duty.”

“A shower sounds good,” Dallyce commented.  “I need to get out of this armor.”

“Elgan, where is Hawthorne right now?” I asked the Ghost through our link.

“Suraya Hawthorne is in the mess hall.”

“Thanks.”

The mess hall was one of the many new buildings we had helped construct after arriving to the Farm.  When we had first gotten here, there was no where for all the refugees to eat and meal lines had been set up outside.  We still weren’t talking about anything on par with some of the finer dining establishments in the City, but at least people had a place to seat weren’t standing in the elements to get their food.

I made my way there and stepped inside.  Scanning the crowd, I spotted Hawthorne quickly.  As the somewhat reluctant leader of the place, she was often surrounded by a crowd of people with questions or petitions, and apparently meals weren’t a respite from that.  Several people were trying to talk to her at once, and she looked absolutely miserable, and I half expected to see her bolt for the door.

I crossed the room, weaving my way through the crowd that had gathered.  We had arrived at a common meal time, and the place was packed. I spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd, refugees we had helped or other people who had worked on projects with us over the weeks we’d been here.  I returned several acknowledgments and greetings, pausing to shake an offered hand here or there. By the time I made it over to Hawthorne, I’d made enough commotion to have drawn her attention.

“Hey, Guardian,” she said by way of greeting.  “Welcome back.”

“Thanks.  So, we finished that thing you wanted us to do.”

“The thing?”

“You know, the top secret thing that you needed me to report on right away after we got back.”

“Right,” she said, understanding dawning in her eyes.  “That thing. Excuse me, everyone, I really need to take care of this.  I will absolutely get back to each and every one of you.”

Suraya managed to extract herself from the disappointed crowd and made a beeline for the door.  I followed just behind, trying to hide a smile. We pushed back out into the open grounds and she let out huge sigh.

“I am so glad we are able to help so many people,” she said, “but sometimes I wish someone else had taken the reigns on all this.  There are so many people here now.”

“If it helps,” I offered, “I can’t think of many people who would have handled it as well.”

“No trying to butter me up, Guardian.  Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“Not my intent,” I said, hands raised.

“Good.  Now, what was it you needed to tell me?”

“We looked into the Taken issue for Devrim.  They’re feeding off the Light that is seeping into the ground from the Shard of the Traveler…”

“Another reason to hate that blasted thing,” Hawthorne muttered.

“...and feeding the Light into specific Taken.  We speculate it is to make them more powerful. Unless we can figure out the source of new Taken and put an end to it, they will probably keep showing up here as long as there is Light.  We did manage to kill one thing they were feeding, but that will just be a temporary set back.”

“Anything else?”

“Just one.  Devrim said to say hello.”

She shook her head with a chuckle.  “As if the radio calls aren’t enough.  Thanks, Guardian. For passing the message and for giving me an excuse to slip away from that mob for even a minute.”

“Anytime,” I said, with a nod.

A sudden commotion back in the direction of the barn drew both of our attention.  Someone was shouting something in an excited tone. Concerned about another threat or that someone needed help, I sprinted back in that direction and I could hear Hawthorne just behind me doing the same.

“What is it,” she barked.  Several others were crowding in listening for the answer as well.

“We just received word from that Guardian who got their Light back.  He managed to track down the three members of the Vanguard and bring them back together.  They’re on their way back, and apparently they have big news they are going to wait to share until they get here.  They’re also bringing a small army of Guardians with them.”

So, Shaxx was proven correct and Zavala was going to come to the Farm.  That would probably feel like vindication to other Guardians who had stayed here.  If nothing else, I know having the Vanguard present will certainly provide a morale boost.  Thank the Traveler we’d built up plenty of barracks since they were bringing any army. 

That probably meant they were going to start talking about trying to retake the City as well.  I wondered how Hawthorne would react to all of this. I glanced over at her, and the look on her face indicated she’d probably had many of the same thoughts that I did, but wasn’t nearly as happy about all of it.

Glad I didn’t have to be the one having that conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Madrid appears courtesy of NetRaptor. Be sure to check out her stories when you get a chance. She has a number of Destiny stories that are somewhat serialized and tell the tales of several Guardians and their Ghosts.
> 
>  
> 
> When trying to figure out what a Taken Warlock might be like, I went ahead and wrote something similar to the Taken grimoire cards from D1 to go along with it:
> 
> You are a Warlock.  Warrior-scholar of the Light.  Devoted to understanding reality and power, your mind an arsenal of deadly secrets.
> 
> You have been Taken.  
> .  
> Stop regarding reality as a thing to be known.  The true nature of the world will never reveal itself in books or studies.  All you have learned is a shackle that binds you.
> 
> What holds you back from your true nature?  What keeps you from taking what is yours?
> 
> You have the ability to reshape creation as you see fit.  Reality is a thing that can be broken and molded in the palm of your hands.
> 
> There is a knife for you.  It is shaped like [tear it asunder].
> 
> Take up the knife.  Cut through reality.  Take your new shape.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 

Time to breathe. It seems to come so rarely in the lives of Guardians; the enemies of the Light are always on the move. Often, it feels like we are rushing from one crisis to the next, the next battle, the next danger. Here at the Farm, that had actually changed.

Sure, the reason we were here was because Cabal forces had attacked the City and driven us from our home. We all knew that it was only a matter of time until we tried to take it back. We knew other Guardians were out there fighting for their lives, struggling to survive. Still, building this place, making it a home for refugees, watching over them, it had all felt somewhat detached from the horrors that were waiting out there for at least a little while.

Now here we were, just back in from fighting Fallen, Cabal, and Taken in the field, the Vanguard was coming back, and the war that had waited in the future was knocking at the door. Time to get back to it, just like putting on an old set of armor.

All around me, people were discussing the news. Most were excited, a few instantly went into tactical mode and began discussing preparations. Hawthorne quickly moved away, her posture rigid. I knew I needed to talk to my team.

More people had surged from behind me to see what the excitement was about. Someone actually grabbed me and shook me in their excitement and I had to resist the urge to punch them. I extricated myself from the crowd, having to give the occasional push to get through.

Once I was clear, I headed down toward the lake. There were very few bodies down that way and it made it much easier to concentrate.

“Elgan, open the team line,” I said. When it was open, I got right to it. “If you didn’t hear the news already, the Vanguard are coming. That's what all the noise in the common area just now was about. They've gathered together and are on their way here with a collection of Guardians, and 'news,' whatever that means.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Tanton said, his voice neutral.

“Oh yeah,” Dallyce replied with an obvious note of excitement.

“Yep,” came Celeste’s response, and I suddenly realized that somehow Tanton had somehow said the most words so far.

“I didn’t hear that,” Kana-4 said. “I’d actually gone to my ship. The Vanguard are coming? Really?”

“Yes, really,” I said.

“So, we'll be going to take back the City, right?” the Exo Titan asked.

“I'd be shocked if they had any other goal.”

“Good, I can't wait to take it to those space rhinos,” Dallyce muttered, which got a murmur of assent.

Kana continued, “If we do that, then what happens here?”

“I honestly don't know,” I told her. “Things have changed quite a bit thanks to this war. I'm glad those decisions are above my pay grade.”

“Wait, we get paid?” Celeste joked.

“Not you. I get it all for putting up with you all these years.”

“That seems backwards,” she said, a grin obvious in her voice.

I shrugged unconsciously, then realized no one else would see it, “Fair enough.”

“So what do we do now?” Kana asked.

“Now? Now we wait for the Vanguard to get here,” I said. “We certainly won't be leaving the Farm before that happens. If anyone wants, they can take the time to check supplies. Medical, weaponry, armor, see what we have on hand to help outfit people if we do go for the City. I'm pretty sure other people will be doing that as well.

“Any other questions?” No response. “Alright. Elgan and I will keep everyone updated if we hear more. For now, check your gear, check your supplies, and be ready for whatever happens.”

The others dropped out of the conversation and I turned my attention toward the lake, looking out over the water, its calm surface a mirror of the surrounding area. I crossed my arms over one of the dock posts and leaned against it.

Then what happens here? The question lingered in my mind. What became of what we had put together, and the refugees who had flocked here? Did everyone just go traipsing back to the City and move on as if none of this happened?

Whatever happened would happen, right now I couldn't say enough of us would even survive trying to retake the City to bother worrying about what happened next. That would be a miserable end to humanity. We would have to make sure that didn't happen, and for us to do that, my team needed me to be focused on the task at hand.

I let out a sigh and straightened up. Pushing those thoughts away, I turned my back on the lake.

The first thing to do would be to make sure we were stocked up on supplies. Someone would need to check up on other things as well, such as how well supplied the infirmary was. Likely others had checked, but no reason to leave it up to chance. Still needed to find out if there was someone familiar with Exo repair as well. Things like transportation would need to be double checked also, make sure we could even get everyone to the City if and when the time came.

Making my way back into the common area of the Farm, I noticed that the crowd had dispersed, and most everyone seemed to be busy with preparations. Doubtless others had the same thoughts I had regarding what needed to be done and checked. I could just imagine dozens of different Guardians all descending on each vendor, all asking the same questions.

“Elgan, check to see if there is any shared information on what supplies are available at the Farm, and if it has been updated at all.” No point on irritating people if there was no need to.

He chirped an affirmative, then spoke up a few seconds later. “It looks like there had been physical lists. Other Ghosts have begun scanning and sharing on networks. Most of the information looks like it is up to date.”

“Good.” That solved one problem, at least. I put on my helmet. “Feed it into my HUD.”

I stepped to the side to avoid blocking anyone and spent a good amount of time scrolling through all the information. I probably got a few odd looks, standing there for so long. It seemed like everyone was fairly well stocked with food and supplies. I felt a little bit of pride at that, given how much time my team and I had spent helping out since we had arrived. They'd done well.

Next I went through our team's supplies. Between encounters with Cabal, Fallen, and Taken, we'd spent quite a bit of ammo in the EDZ. That would need to be replenished, and it never hurt to pick up a few extra guns. Food stores were decent, but could use a little more as well, just to be safe.

I made my way to the armory. Manufacturing here had picked up, but they still hadn't managed to produce anything heavy. The Pariah auto rifle and Stubborn Oak shotgun I'd purchased previously were still in good shape, but I could still use something else for flexibility, maybe a scout rifle to add some range and accuracy.

The rifle available was called Thistle and Yew. It, like several of the other guns being sold at the Farm, was based on a rifle that Hawthorne had cobbled together while living in the wilds. I smiled a little at that. What little I knew of the woman, I was sure this level of celebrity would be driving her crazy. It was the kind of thing that Celeste would tease her about without end if she was one of us.

Stepping away from the counter, I ran into Dallyce and Celeste, almost literally. They had been coming from the opposite direction that I had, and were talking rather than paying close attention to where they were going. If I had been a little slower in turning my head, I would have collided with one or both of them.

“Sorry,” I said, before realizing who it was.

“Hey, dad,” Celeste piped up. “Doing a little shopping? Buy me something pretty?”

“Not today, sorry.”

“Aww,” she pouted for a second before breaking into a grin. “Shouldn’t the team leader be responsible for keeping everyone armed and armored?”

“I missed that part of the job description.”

“Have to read the fine print. I know that’s harder when to see when you get old, eyes failing and all.”

“Funny,” I replied, making sure my tone let her know that I thought very differently.

“What did you get?” Dallyce asked. I offered up the scout and she looked it over. “Not bad. I’ve used better, but I’ve had to use worse as well.”

Celeste glanced back and forth between us. “I think I’ll leave you two kids alone now.”

I looked at her, quirking an eyebrow, and she winked at me and gave me a thumbs up before turning and trotting away. I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Dallyce handed back the gun, having missed the exchange.

“Here’s this back, she said. “Think you’re ready for when the Vanguard get here?”

“Ready as I can be,” I said, holding the rifle out so that Elgan could scan and store it. There was another flash of something in the back of my mind. Ready. Ready for anything. I ignored it.

“Traveler, I hope they are coming with a plan to move on the City quickly. I’ve been dying for the chance to hit the Cabal ever since I had to leave it behind.”

“Phrasing,” I replied.

“Hmm?” she questioned, then realized what she had said. “Right, not the best choice of words, though fitting. It’s what we always do, isn’t it? Put our lives on the line for the City and the people?”

“Yeah. Well, most of us, anyway. Some seem to have other ideas.”

“Like the Warlock?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, pursuing the Taken the way he did. Not the first Guardian to decide there were better goals.”

“Well, you made sure he learned his lesson,” she said with a crooked smile. “Great punch, by the way.”

“Thanks,” I said, glancing down, then looking away. After a second, I turned my face back in her direction, “Hey, I need to take care of a few more things, try to make sure everything is in place for whatever happens.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, sounding confused at the sudden turn. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I answered with a quick smile. “All fine. We’ll all regroup once the Vanguard show up.”

“Alright.”

Dallyce turned to talk to the weapon vendor, and I walked away. Nice punch. My mind went back to that moment in the EDZ when I had killed the Taken thing that used to be a Guardian, and Elgan’s questions about it afterward. I found myself getting angry again, but couldn’t figure out where the anger was actually focused. Or, more accurately, I had trouble focusing it, as it seemed to want to go after so many different targets involved in this situation.

I picked up some rations, making sure I got enough for everyone, as keeping the team stocked in this regard did feel like something that should be something the team lead did. The transaction was quick and easy, which worked in my favor, as my mind wasn’t fully on it. I was on my way back to the common area when I spotted Zillah.

The Warlock was standing off the main path, staring straight ahead. Her eyes appeared unfocused, like she wasn't really looking at anything. I changed course, moving in her direction, but she didn’t seem to notice my approach.

“Everything alright?” I asked her and she blinked and shook her head, coming back from wherever she'd been, then turned to look at me..

“Yes, I'm fine,” she said, “just thinking. There’s a lot to consider right now. It's funny you asked me that, I had meant to ask you the same thing earlier.”

“Me?” I pointed to my chest. “I'm fine.”

“Liar.”

That caught me off guard. “Excuse me?”

“Li-ar,” she said, drawing out the word, her amber eyes locked onto mine. “Saying you're fine. It's not true. I saw your face after you killed that Warlock”

Hitting that close to what I’d been thinking just now got under my skin, but I tried not to let it show. 

“I saw it again before we left the EDZ,” she continued, “and I can see it now, actually.”

“Think you have me figured out that well, do you?”

“Yes,” she stated it as an obvious fact.

We stood there, eyes locked. I could see from her face and posture that she wasn't going to give up on it. I broke the brief stare down by looking away.

“Talk to me,” she said, and I could feel that she had taken a step closer.

I shook my head. “I can't. Not like that, not right now.”

Now she took a step back, and I glanced over, catching a fleeting glimpse of something, a wounded look that flashed behind her eyes before an impassive mask settled into place.

“Fine.”

I opened my mouth to say something, then rethought my words multiple times in a matter of seconds. A million different things I could say ran through my mind. I could talk about how what happened with the Warlock was eating at me, about my feelings regarding the mission we’d been on, express my doubts and concerns about everything we had been through and would be going through soon. It was too much, and there wasn't time.

“Later. After,” I said, thinking we could talk once the Vanguard arrived and we knew more about what was going to happen.

Zillah turned on her heels and stalked away without another word. A million things to say, and I had apparently picked the worst one. I watched her go, feeling that focus and resolve I had been working to put in place down at the lake faltering.

“Nice work,” Elgan commented privately.

“Shut up,” I told him.

“Well at least we've both ticked her off now, so you can't blame me when she takes off again.”

“Seriously, shut u-” I stopped when the last five words sank in. “Wait, you think she's going to leave again?”

“I'd say it's almost a given now,” the Ghost said.

Thrall spit.

I started off after her, trying to catch her and see if I could try to fix it. A flow of people crossed between us, and I lost sight of her. How do you lose someone with blue skin and green hair in a crowd that is mostly baseline human? I figured she must have put on her helmet or transmatted somewhere.

“Elgan, try to open a channel to Zillah, please.”

“No response,” he replied.

“Try again.”

“Still nothing.”

I considered a third try, but figured that might be pushing it. I ran a hand over my face, considering my options. I'd have to try to catch her the next time she made an appearance and talk with her. Assuming she did make another appearance and didn’t stay out of sight or just take off.

“Elgan, I-”

I stopped mid-sentence as a ship came flying overhead, followed by another, and then many more. Around me, everyone was looking up and pointing, and a loud cheer broke out. All around me, people started moving quicker, some even broke into a run, heading to where they knew new arrivals would transmat in. I went along with them, feeling myself getting caught up in the excitement, other thoughts getting pushed aside for the time being.

“That is a lot of ships,” Elgan spoke up, saying the most obvious thing. “Where are we supposed to store them all?”

“That is an excellent question,” I replied.

The line of ships passed overhead and kept moving as if in a big parade that was sailing by. The four lead ships broke out of formation and swung back in out direction, though the rest kept moving. I recognized three of them instantly, though I couldn’t quite place the fourth. They came in low, streaking back in the direction they had come from. As they passed, four figures transmatted in, landing in the middle of the soccer field.

If I had thought that the crowd cheered loudly when they first spotted the ships flying in, I was mistaken. A deafening roar erupted from the assembled masses then, Guardian and non-Guardian alike. People were jumping up and down, pumping their fists in the air in excitement. As tall as I was, it was making it difficult for me to see. I moved my head back and forth, trying to get a better angle. Eventually, I spotted them.

Commander Zavala, Ikora Rey, and Cayde-6. The Vanguard were here, accompanied by Aasim-7.

Three of the four figures stood still, scanning the gathering, taking in the reactions. The fourth, Cayde-6 was waving both hands up and down, encouraging the crowd to continue shouting and cheering, pumping them up more. He gestured to the crowd, then turned back toward Zavala and Ikora, seeming to say something that I doubt even they had a hope of hearing over the noise.

The four of them stepped forward. Ahead of the, the crowd backed up and began to part. I noticed a different section of the crowd parting as well and glanced over. I caught a glimpse of Surya Hawthorne making her way toward the Vanguard. Eventually, their two little bubbles of space connected, and Hawthorne stopped in front of them.

I could see Aasim step forward and talk to Hawthorne, before turning and introducing her to the other three. They all nodded in greeting, and exchanged more words. Suraya motioned toward one of the buildings, and the Vanguard followed her to it, disappearing inside. The crowd waited for a few minutes, but when it became apparent that they weren’t going to reemerge right away, they began to disperse, dozens of animated conversations being carried simultaneously.

“Okay, let’s get the team back on the line,” I said. “Time to get together and get ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized recently that I have been working on my various Destiny fics for three years now. Looked it up, and my joining date for fanfiction was 6/5, which would have been the same day I posted the first chapter of what would become A Not so Simple Patrol. (It says published 6/9, but that is because I posted the first chapter as a stand alone, started a new story that picked up right after, realized they should just be the same story, took both down, and republished.) Really wanted to get this post up as an anniversary celebration of sorts, though I didn’t quite make it. Seems a long time to spend telling these little tales. Thanks to all of you who have come along for the ride, especially long-time readers.
> 
> Please leave feedback!


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